Surgical theater system having light, monitors, and cameras

ABSTRACT

A surgical theater apparatus for suspending from a ceiling structural member of a hospital includes a central hub mountable to the ceiling structural member to rotate about a rotation axis. The hub has a pivot axis spaced apart from the rotation axis. First and second devices, such as surgical lights, a cameras, and monitors, are mounted to a first end of a first device arm and a first end of a second device arm, respectively. A second end of the first device arm is mounted to the hub for movement about the rotation axis and about the pivot axis. A second end of the second device arm is mounted to the hub for movement about the rotation axis. The pivot axis and the rotation axis are parallel.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a ceiling mounted system for usein a surgical theater. More particularly, the present invention relatesto an apparatus having articulating arms that support a surgical light,a video camera, and video monitors. The present invention also relatesto such an apparatus wherein the articulating arms are inter-changeablebetween apparatus in different locations and configured to display videoimages selected from a plurality of video devices.

[0002] Video monitors are used in surgical theaters for viewing imagessuch as, for example, images produced from lapyroscopic and endoscopiccameras. These monitors display images placed in a position so that thesurgeon can view them during a surgical procedure. These monitors aretypically mounted on top of a rolling cart that contains thelapyroscopic or endoscopic equipment. This cart is large and bulky andtakes up valuable space around the operating table. Since the monitor ison top of the cart, the monitor cannot always be placed in a positionthat is the most optimum for viewing by the surgeon.

[0003] In many surgical procedures, two monitors are used because aphysician's assistant is located on the opposite side of the operatingtable from the surgeon and cannot see the monitor that is positioned forthe surgeon's viewing. In these cases, two monitors must be used atdifferent locations around the table. The positions of the monitorsvaries depending on the type of surgery and the positions of the surgeonand the assistant. Having two carts with monitors on them takes up anexcessive amount of floor space.

[0004] With the development of flat screen monitors, the size of themonitors has decreased dramatically. For flat screen monitors and CRTmonitors having comparable image sizes, the footprint of the flat screenmonitor enclosure is much smaller than that of the comparable CRTmonitor. Similarly, the weight of the flat screen monitor is only afraction of a comparable CRT type monitor.

[0005] Flat screen monitors are compatible with mounting on an arm thatis attached to the ceiling. This allows the endoscopic cart to beseparated from the video monitor. The cart can then be moved away fromthe table to different areas of the suite out of the way of the surgeon.The scope is plugged into a wall outlet that is hard wired through thewall and down through the support arms to the video monitors.

[0006] Filming and recording surgical procedures is now becoming moreroutine. Operating rooms are typically not adequately equipped to recordthese surgical procedures. In fact, more often than not, a surgeonemploys the services of a professional company or utilizes the in houseservices available to film a procedure. This requires advance schedulingand is very expensive. Previously, such filming of surgical procedureswas principally done for education within the hospital. Today, however,the need to film surgical procedures has expanded considerably.

[0007] Cameras are used in operating rooms as a means of networking withthe rest of the world. The camera has now become the vehicle by whichsurgeons can consult with each other during live procedures. For certainsurgical procedures it is not uncommon for surgeons to consult with eachother from different parts of the world during a case (commonly referredto as ‘Telesurgery’). In teaching hospitals, clinical educators requireinteractive filming capabilities that can be controlled remotely fromthe classroom. Such procedures are either recorded for critique at alater date or simply observed ‘real time’ for teaching. Surgeonsroutinely record procedures and edit the content for presentation at aconference. More surgical procedures are being recorded for futurereference should the outcome of the surgery be questioned.

[0008] The increased practice of endoscopic and lapyroscopic surgery hasproduced the need for more sophisticated camera and monitor systems thatcan alternate between internal and external images. The need to do thisin a seamless and user friendly fashion is driving the demand for a newlevel of sophistication in cameras offered with surgical theatersystems. Among the features demanded in these new systems is the abilityfor the system to be operated by the surgical staff.

[0009] Preferably, a surgical camera is movable to different vantagepoints around the patient, and should even be able to shoot laterallyand directly downwardly over the center of the patient. To meet thisunique set of needs and provide flexibility, the present inventionprovides a surgical theater system having a camera mounted on supportarm assembly extending from the same hub which supports the surgicallight.

[0010] Typically, a surgical light hangs above the table in an OR suitefor lighting the surgical site. Many health care facilities have morethan one, and often several, OR suites in which surgical lights aremounted to illuminate surgical procedures. The disclosed device includesa plurality of arms mounted to the hub of a surgical theater system sothat a surgical light, a camera and/or video monitors can be positionedeffectively around the surgical table. In this specification, includingthe claims, the term “hub” is intended to refer to a member whichrotates about an axis or shaft. Typically, a shaft is mounted to theceiling in the OR to extend downwardly and at least one and often twolights are mounted on the hub for movement about the shaft.

[0011] According to one aspect of the invention, a surgical theaterapparatus for suspending from a ceiling structural member of a hospitalincludes first and second devices selected from the group of a surgicallight, a camera, and a monitor and a central hub mountable to theceiling structural member to rotate about a rotation axis. The hub has apivot axis spaced apart from and parallel to the rotation axis. A firstdevice arm is coupled at a first end to the first device and mounted ata second end to the hub for movement about the rotation axis and aboutthe pivot axis. A second device arm is coupled at a first end to thesecond device and mounted at a second end to the hub for movement aboutthe rotation axis. The first device may be a monitor and the seconddevice a camera. The hub may include a second pivot axis spaced apartfrom and parallel to the rotation axis and the first pivot axis so thata third device selected from the group of a surgical light, a camera,and a monitor may be mounted by a third device arm to the hub formovement about the rotation axis and about the second pivot axis. Thisthird device may be a monitor. The first and second pivot axes and therotation axis are coplanar. The first device arm includes a firstsegment and a second segment pivotally mounted to the first segmentabout a third pivot axis which is perpendicular to the first pivot axis.The apparatus may also include an additional surgical light attached toa surgical light arm mounted to the hub for movement about the rotationaxis. The device may also include slip rings to facilitate passage ofcables through the hub and arms, adjustable brakes for controllingrotation of the hub and pivoting of the arms, and stops limiting themotion of the arms.

[0012] According to another aspect of the invention, a surgical lightapparatus for mounting to a support in a ceiling includes a surgicallight head, a first monitor, a second monitor, a camera, and a shaftmountable to the support. The shaft includes a longitudinal axisextending downwardly from the support. A light hub is mounted to rotateabout the longitudinal axis, the light head being coupled to the lighthub by a light arm extending laterally away from the light hub. A camerahub is mounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis, the camera beingcoupled to the camera hub by a camera arm extending laterally away fromthe camera hub. A monitor hub having first and second pivot jointspivoting about first and second pivot axes respectively is mounted torotate about the longitudinal axis. The first monitor is coupled to thefirst pivot joint by a first monitor arm and the second monitor iscoupled to the second pivot joint by a second monitor arm. The firstpivot axis is spaced apart laterally from, and is substantially parallelto, the longitudinal axis. The second pivot axis is spaced apartlaterally from, and is substantially parallel to, the longitudinal axis.The first and second monitor arms pivot at least 180 degrees about thefirst and second pivot axes respectively. The device may also includeslip rings to facilitate passage of cables through the hub and arms,adjustable brakes for controlling rotation of the hub and pivoting ofthe arms, and a second surgical light head coupled to a second light hubby a second light arm extending laterally away from the second lighthub.

[0013] According to still another aspect of the present invention, asurgical light apparatus for mounting to a support in a ceiling includesa shaft mountable to the support to have a longitudinal axis extendingdownwardly from the support, a surgical light head mounted to a lighthub mounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis by a light armextending laterally away from the light hub, and a monitor mounted by amonitor arm assembly to a monitor hub mounted to rotate about thelongitudinal axis. The monitor arm includes a bent arm coupled to themonitor hub portion and extending laterally away and then downwardlyfrom the monitor hub portion to a distal end. An extension arm isrotatably mounted at a first end to the distal end of the bent arm torotate about a second rotation axis. A laterally-extending arm ismounted at a first end to a second end of the extension arm. An uppersection of a downwardly-extending arm is mounted at the first end to thelaterally-extending arm and a second end to the upper end of a lowersection of the downwardly-extending arm. The lower section is rotatablymounted at the upper end to the second end of the upper section torotate about a third rotation axis. The monitor is mounted to the lowersection at the lower end. The longitudinal axis, first rotation axis andsecond rotation axis are generally parallel. The laterally-extending armis pivotally mounted to the extension arm and the downwardly extendingarm to pivot about first and second generally parallel pivot axesrespectively. The first pivot axis is substantially perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis. Slip rings facilitate rotation of the hub and the armsections.

[0014] According to still another aspect of the invention, a surgicalvideo apparatus for suspending from a ceiling structural member of ahospital includes a support mountable to the ceiling structural memberand a shaft having an upper end and a longitudinal axis and beingcoupled at the upper end to the support to extend downwardly. A videomonitor is coupled by a monitor arm to the the shaft for movement abouta pivot axis, and a camera is coupled by a camera arm to the shaft formovement about a rotation axis. The pivot axis is spaced apart laterallyfrom the rotation axis, said pivot axis and rotation axis beinggenerally parallel to said longitudinal axis. The rotation axis iscoaxial with the longitudinal axis. A second monitor is coupled to asecond monitor arm coupled to the shaft for movement about a secondpivot axis generally parallel to the longitudinal axis. The first andsecond pivot axes extend through a hub to which the second ends of thefirst and second monitor arms are pivotally mounted and the hub ismounted to the shaft for rotation about the longitudinal axis. The firstand second pivot axes and the rotation axis are coplanar.

[0015] A surgical light, in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention includes a shaft mountable to a ceiling structure to extenddownwardly and define a longitudinal axis, a surgical light mounted to ahub by a light arm to the shaft for movement about the longitudinalaxis, and a monitor coupled to a monitor arm assembly for coupling themonitor for movement about the longitudinal axis. The arm assemblyincludes a first arm movable about the shaft and having, at its distalend, a portion extending downwardly to define a second axis, a secondarm movable about the second axis, the second arm having a proximal endcoupled to the first arm downwardly extending portion and a distal end,the monitor being coupled to the second arm distal end.

[0016] A surgical apparatus includes a hub assembly configured to beattached to a ceiling, an arm coupled for pivotal movement about the hubassembly and having a distal end including a mechanical connector and anelectrical connector, the electrical connector being configured tocouple to an electrical connector of a camera and a monitor, a monitorand a camera. The monitor is mounted to a mechanical connectorconfigured to attach to and detach from the mechanical connector of thearm. The monitor is coupled to an electrical connector configured toattach to and detach from the electrical connector of the arm. Thecamera is mounted to a mechanical connector configured to attach to anddetach from the mechanical connector of the arm. The monitor is coupledto an electrical connector configured to attach to and detach from theelectrical connector of the arm.

[0017] According to another aspect of the invention, a surgical theaterapparatus for use in a surgical suite having a ceiling includes a hubassembly, including a plurality of hub segments at least one of which ispivotable about a main axis, is adapted to be coupled to the ceiling. Anarm assembly couples a video device to a first hub segment for pivotingmovement about a pivot axis that is spaced apart from and parallel withthe main axis. The video device may be a camera or a monitor. A secondarm assembly may couple a surgical light a second hub segment. The armassembly may include an upper arm, a counterbalanced arm assemblycoupled to the upper arm coupled to the first hub segment for pivotingmovement about the pivot axis, and a lower arm assembly coupled to thecounterbalanced arm assembly.

[0018] According to yet another aspect of the invention, a surgicaltheater apparatus for use in a surgical suite includes a hub assemblyhaving a plurality of hub segments at least one of which is pivotableabout a main axis. First and second video devices are coupled by firstand second arm assemblies to a first hub segment of the plurality of hubsegments for pivoting movement about respective pivot axes that arespaced apart from and parallel with the main axis.

[0019] According to another aspect of the invention, a surgical theaterapparatus has an arm assembly including a first arm, a first mechanicalconnector coupled to the first arm, and a first electrical connectoradjacent the first mechanical connector. A monitor assembly adapted tobe mechanically coupled to the first mechanical connector and to beelectrically coupled to the first electrical connector and a cameraassembly adapted to be mechanically coupled to the first mechanicalconnector and to be electrically coupled to the first electricalconnector are also provided. The monitor assembly and the cameraassembly are selectively and individually coupleable to and decoupleablefrom the arm assembly.

[0020] Additional features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the followingdetailed description of illustrated embodiments exemplifying the bestmode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanyingfigures in which:

[0022]FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a surgical theaterapparatus of the present invention, including first and second surgicallights mounted to a central hub, first and second monitors coupled tosupport arms attached to the central hub, and a camera coupled to asupport arm attached to the central hub;

[0023]FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating positions of all the supportarms attached to the central hub;

[0024]FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating movement of anadjustable height monitor arm assembly and the camera arm assembly;

[0025]FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a fixed height monitorarm assembly coupled to the central hub of a surgical theater system;

[0026]FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a monitor connection hub section ofthe central hub of FIGS. 1 and 4, showing the monitor hub including amain hub and two radially extending lower pivot joints and two upperpivot joints, and showing the various components received in the mainhub and pivot joints;

[0027]FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5 of anassembled main hub and pivot joint;

[0028]FIG. 7 is a plan view of the monitor connection hub of FIG. 5showing an arcuate stop extending upwardly from the bottom pivot joint;

[0029]FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the top pivot joint of FIG. 5 showingan arcuate slot sized to receive, and cooperate with, the arcuate stopof FIG. 7 to limit pivotal movement of the monitor support arms;

[0030]FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 1 showingthe arcuate stop extending upwardly from the bottom pivot joint receivedin the arcuate slot of the top pivot joint (shown in section) andshowing a pivot arm section of the top pivot joint extending radiallyfrom the main hub;

[0031]FIG. 10 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 9 showing the toppivot joint pivoted 90 degrees in a first direction until the stop hasengaged a first end of the arcuate slot with such movement occurringwithout inducing rotation of the hub about its rotational axis;

[0032]FIG. 11 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 10 showing the hubrotated in the first direction as a result of additional force beingexerted in the first direction on the top pivot joint after the arcuatestop engaged the first end of the arcuate slot;

[0033]FIG. 12 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 9 showing the toppivot joint pivoted 90 degrees in a second direction until the arcuatestop has engaged a second end of the arcuate slot;

[0034]FIG. 13 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 12 showing the hubrotated in the second direction as a result of additional force beingexerted in the second direction on the top pivot joint after the arcuatestop engaged the second end of the arcuate slot;

[0035]FIG. 14 is an exploded view of a counterbalanced arm in accordancewith one aspect of the present invention;

[0036]FIG. 15 is a side view of the assembled counter balance arm ofFIG. 14;

[0037]FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a surgical theater system havingtwo lights mounted by light arm assemblies for rotation about a hub, andtwo multipurpose arm assemblies mounted for pivotal movement about pivotjoints mounted for rotation about the hub, one multi-purpose arm isshown with a monitor mounted thereto and a camera and monitor configuredfor coupling to the other multi-purpose arm are shown adjacent the othermulti-purpose arm of the apparatus;

[0038]FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a surgical theater system havingtwo lights mounted by light arm assemblies for rotation about a hub, andtwo multipurpose receptacles mounted for pivotal movement about pivotjoints mounted for rotation about the hub, one of the multi-purposereceptacles includes a monitor arm mounted to its distal end, while theother multi-purpose receptacle has a camera arm disconnected from itsdistal end;

[0039]FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a portion of the central hub of thesurgical theater system of FIG. 17 showing an upper dedicated hub towhich a device, such as a surgical light, is attached and a lowermulti-purpose hub, similar to the hub of FIGS. 5 and 6, configured sothat each upper pivot joint acts as a multi-purpose receptacle having anelectrical connector extending therefrom;

[0040]FIG. 19 is a side view with parts broken away of a monitor arm forattachment to the multi-purpose receptacles of FIG. 18;

[0041]FIG. 20 is an auxiliary view of the portion of the monitor arm ofFIG. 19 enclosed in circle 20-20;

[0042]FIG. 21 is a plan view of a remotely mounted input controller of aselector control panel electrically coupled to the monitors of thesurgical theater system showing controls for four input channels each ofwhich includes three connectors to which video devices may be coupled toprovide a video image to the monitors of the surgical theater system oranother monitor coupled to a remote output, each input channelcontroller is provided with a selector switch by which an activeconnector is selected and indicator lights configured to display whichof the three connectors is active;

[0043]FIG. 22 is a plan view of a remotely mounted output panel of aselector control panel showing an “A” monitor output sub-panelelectrically coupled to the video feed of the primary or “A” monitor ofthe surgical theater system and an Auxiliary output sub-panel directlycoupled to the primary inputs of channel 1 of the input controller eachoutput sub-panel includes three connectors to permit monitors or othervideo display devices to be coupled thereto;

[0044]FIG. 23 is a plan view of a remotely mounted monitor inputselector panel of the selector control panel for selecting the channelto be displayed on “A” and “B” monitors of the surgical theater system,an active channel selector button is provided for each monitor allowingan active channel to be selected so that the video feed present on thatchannel will be displayed on the appropriate monitor, indicator lightsare associated with channels to indicate the active channel of eachmonitor;

[0045]FIG. 24 is a diagrammatic view of the selector control panel andsurgical theater system;

[0046]FIG. 25 is a plan view of a remotely mounted input controller ofan alternative selector control panel electrically coupled to themonitors of the surgical theater system showing controls for dedicatedinput channels for each monitor both of which share three connectors towhich video devices may be coupled to provide a video image to themonitors of the surgical theater system or another monitor coupled to aremote output, each input channel controller is provided with a selectorswitch by which an active connector is selected and indicator lightsconfigured to display which of the three connectors is active;

[0047]FIG. 26 is a plan view of a remotely mounted output panel of thealternative selector control panel showing an “A” monitor outputsub-panel electrically coupled to the video feed of the primary or “A”monitor of the surgical theater system and an Auxiliary output sub-paneldirectly coupled to the inputs of the input controller each outputsub-panel includes three connectors to permit monitors or other videodisplay devices to be coupled thereto;

[0048]FIG. 27 is a plan view of a remotely mounted camera control panelfor controlling the camera of a surgical theater system, the controlpanel includes buttons coupled to the camera and camera mount forcontrolling the pan/tilt, focus, zoom, iris, white balance, pause, andon/off functions of the camera and camera mount;

[0049]FIG. 28 is a plan view of a wireless camera remote control forwirelessly controlling the same camera functions as the camera controlpanel of FIG. 27; and

[0050]FIG. 29 is a plan view of a remote control panel similar to thepanel of FIG. 27 for coupling to a camera of a surgical theater systemincluding a sound system, the control panel includes buttons coupled tothe camera and camera mount for controlling the pan/tilt, focus, zoom,iris, white balance, pause, print audio, and on/off functions of thecamera and camera mount.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] Referring to the drawings, several embodiments of a surgicaltheater system 10 and controls for a surgical theater system areillustrated. Each surgical theater system embodiment illustratedincludes a central hub 12 composed of a plurality of hub portions. Onehub portion, referred to as connection hub or monitor hub 46, orconnection hub or multi-purpose hub 646, of each illustrated embodimentis adapted for mounting of two arms thereto. The connection hub 46 and646 is configured to facilitate mounting two arms to a surgical theatersystem in less vertical area than is typically required for mounting twoarms using standard hub configurations. This configuration allows moredevices to be mounted to a central hub of a surgical theater system withminimal intrusion into the head space available for the surgical staffover the operating table. The other hub portions are of standardconfiguration and are of the type by which surgical lights, cameras, andor monitors are typically mounted to the central hub of a surgicaltheater system. It is understood that the central hub 12 may include aplurality of connection hubs 46 and 646 within the teaching of thepresent invention. While the surgical theater systems are illustratedhaving configurations with a specific number of surgical lights,cameras, and/or monitors, it is within the teaching of the disclosure aspresently perceived for different configurations of surgical lightheads, monitors, and/or cameras to be included in each describedsurgical theater system.

[0052] FIGS. 1-4 illustrate two embodiments of a surgical theater system10 having two dedicated light arms, a dedicated camera arm 90, and twodedicated monitor arm assemblies 48 and 180 attached to a hub 12. Bothembodiments of the monitor arm assembly 48 and 180 include a bent upperarm having a horizontal arm 50 and a vertical arm 52 having an uppersection 60 and a lower section 62, a laterally-extending arm 66 and 188coupled to the lower section 62 of the bent arm, and a lower assembly ormount 67 coupling the monitor 42 and 44 to the laterally-extending arm66 and 188. The two embodiments differ in the type of arm used for thelaterally-extending arm 66 and 188 and the manner in which thelaterally--extending arm 66 and 188 is coupled to the bent arm and thelower assembly 67. Thus, the similar components of the two embodimentsof monitor arm assembly 48 and 180 will be discussed with regard to theadjustable counterbalanced arm assembly 48 with the understanding thatthe fixed height monitor arm assembly 180 is similarly fashioned. Anyslight differences between the two embodiments will be indicated.However, each laterally-extending arm embodiment 66 and 188 will bediscussed separately.

[0053] Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a surgicaltheater system 10 according to one aspect of the present invention. Thesurgical theater system 10 includes a central hub 12 mounted to support11 mounted to a ceiling 14 in a room such as a surgical suite. The hub12 is located over an operating room table 16 or other patient supportdevice on which a surgical procedure is to be performed. First andsecond surgical lights 18 and 20 are pivotally coupled to first andsecond light hubs or hub sections 22 and 24, respectively, of hub 12 bylight arms or support arm assemblies 28. Therefore, the surgical lights18 and 20 are rotatable about axis 26 of hub 12.

[0054] Surgical light support arms 28 include horizontally extendingsections 30 and vertically extending sections 32. Vertically extendingarm sections 32 include upper and lower sections 34 and 36 so that thevertical sections 32 are rotatable about axis 38. A counterbalanced arm40 is pivotally coupled to vertical arm section 32 for supportingsurgical lights 18 and 20. In each of the illustrated embodiments of asurgical theater system, the light heads, light arms and light hubs areof the type commonly used in surgical theater systems including onlylight heads and light arms. Details of the surgical lights 18 and 20 andsurgical light support arms 28 are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,012,821and 6,132,062 and U.S. applications Ser. Nos. 09/050,265; 09/050,529;and 09/050,534 which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0055] In the FIG. 1-4 embodiments of the surgical theater system 10,dedicated monitor arms 48 and 180 are mounted to a monitor hub 46forming a portion of the central hub 12. Each of the two monitor armassemblies 48 and 180 of each embodiment is coupled through top pivotjoint 122 to a respective bottom pivot joint 54 permitting each monitorarm assembly 48 and 180 to swivel through a range of about 180° aroundits associated pivot axis 56 and 58 extending through its associatedpivot joint 54. The rotation of the monitor hub 46 to which each monitorarm assembly 48 and 180 is coupled allows each monitor 42 and 44 to beplaced anywhere around the surgical table. Each monitor arm assembly 48and 180 may move about its respective pivot axis 56 and 58 withoutinducing rotation of the monitor hub 46 about rotation axis 26 until thetop pivot joint 122 to which arm assembly 48 and 180 is attached hits astop. Thus, a 180° movement of one arm assembly between its first stoplimit and its second stop limit occurs without creating movement in theother monitor arm assembly coupled to connection hub 46. Once one armassembly is moved in a direction until top pivot joint 122 to which itis attached hits the stop, additional movement of that arm assembly inthe same direction causes the other arm assembly to rotate as wellbecause the entire connection hub 46 rotates.

[0056] The vertical arm 52 of the bent arm of each monitor arm assembly48 and 180 extends downwardly from the horizontal arm 50 at a locationradially inwardly from vertical sections 32 of the light arms 28. Uppersection 60 and lower section 62 of vertical arm 52 are coupled by aswivel mechanism including a slip ring assembly permitting the lowersection 62 to rotate about a rotation axis extending through the uppersection 60. The laterally-extending arm, coupled to the monitor 42 and44 through the lower assembly, also rotates about the rotation axisextending through the upper section 60 to permit the monitor to beplaced closer to or farther away from the vertical arm 52.

[0057] In the fixed height monitor arm assembly 180, thelaterally-extending arm 188 is one portion of a unitary off-set orS-shaped section 182 also including an upper section 184 and a lower armsection 190. Upper arm section 184 replaces lower section 62 of verticalarm 52 of arm assembly 48 so that upper arm section 184 is pivotallymounted to upper section 60 of vertical arm 52. Laterally-extending orhorizontal arm section 188 of arm assembly 180 is also rigidly mountedto the lower assembly 67. For uniformity in description, whilephysically a component of off-set or S-shaped section 182, lower armsection 190 is functionally a component of lower assembly 67 in armassembly 180. The laterally-extending or horizontal arm 188 of the fixedheight monitor arm assembly 180 includes an offset of about 14″ to allowthe monitor to reach beyond the head or foot of the table and to beplaced even with the side of the table.

[0058] In the adjustable height monitor arm assembly 48, counterbalancedarm 66 is attached to the vertical arm 52 illustratively at about a 78″height above the floor. This counterbalanced arm 66 contains aparallelogram link that keeps the monitor 42 and 44 in a consistentorientation relative to the floor when it is raised upwardly or lowereddownwardly.

[0059] Referring again to both embodiments of monitor arm assembly 48and 180, the lower assembly 67 extends from below thelaterally-extending arm 66 and 188. Below the connection point of thelaterally-extending arm 66 and 188 to the lower assembly 67, the lowerassembly 67 includes another swivel including a slip ring that allowsmonitor 42 and 44 to be rotated to position the monitor at the desiredviewing angle. Attached to this arm is a bracket 86, 196 that attachesto the monitor and allows the monitor to tilt to eliminate glare andimprove viewing angle. A sterile handle 84, 194 is coupled to the backof the monitor-attaching bracket 86, 196 to aid in moving the monitor toits desired position. All cables for video monitor 42 and 44 and camera108 are substantially enclosed inside the articulating arms 48 and 180,90.

[0060] As further illustrated in FIG. 1, first and second monitors 42and 44 are coupled to the central hub 12. Illustratively, monitors 42and 44 are Model LC150M2 monitors available from Sharp or ModelSH46/H746 monitors available from Computer Dynamics Inc. It isunderstood that any suitable monitors may be used. Monitors 42 and 44are coupled to connection hub or monitor hub 46 by support armassemblies 48. Illustratively, a monitor support arm assembly 48includes a bent arm or first segment having a horizontal arm section 50and a vertical arm section 52 for each monitor 42 and 44. Horizontal armsections 50 are coupled to bottom pivot joints 54 which extend away froma main hub section 47 of connection hub 46. Therefore, the horizontalarm sections 50 are pivotable about pivot axes 56 and 58 which arespaced apart from the pivot or rotation axis 26 of central hub 12.

[0061] Vertical arm sections 52 of monitor arm assemblies 48illustratively each include first or upper section 60 and second orlower sections 62. The second vertical section or extension arm 62 isrotatable relative to the first vertical section 60 about axis 64. Inmonitor arm assembly 48, counterbalanced arm 66 is pivotally connectedat its proximate end to second vertical section 62 by a pivot connection68 having an upwardly extending mounting shaft 346. Counterbalanced arm66 is pivotally mounted about pivot connection 72 at its distal end to alower assembly 67. Pivot connection 72 includes a downwardly extendingmounting shaft 358.

[0062] In monitor arm assembly 48, lower assembly 67 includes horizontalarm 70, hub or arm 74, vertical arm 76, monitor mounting arm 78, hub 82,handle 84, and monitor support plate 86. Horizontal arm 70 is coupled atits distal end to downwardly extending mounting shaft 358 of pivotconnection 72. Mounting shaft 358 is rotatably mounted to a lower armsection or hub 74 of a lower mounting assembly 67. Vertical arm 76 iscoupled to horizontal arm section 70. Monitor mounting arm 78 has afirst end 80 rotatably coupled to a hub 82 of vertical arm 76. Handle 84is coupled to end section 80. A second end 85 of mounting arm 78 iscoupled to a monitor support plate 86. Movement of the monitor armassemblies 48 is described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 discussedbelow.

[0063] As shown, in FIGS. 1-4 the surgical theater system includes adedicated camera hub to which a camera is mounted by a camera arm. Thededicated camera hub is mounted for movement about the downwardlyextending shaft of the surgical theater system. The hub allows for 360°rotation so the camera is movable anywhere over the table withoutobstruction. This is done by using a slip ring design electricallycoupling a first cable carried by the shaft to a second cable carried byan arm that couples the camera to the hub. The slip ring, first cableand second cable carry video signals between the camera and a monitor,and electrical power from a power supply to the camera.

[0064] The camera has a sterile handle that can be grabbed to move thecamera to any position around the table. With this handle, the cameracan be pointed at the surgical site with feedback from the monitor. Inan illustrated embodiment of controls for a surgical theater system, aremote control (wired or wireless) is used to make fine adjustments topan, tilt, rotate and zoom. A wall remote control can also be used tocontrol the camera. These controls can also be operated from a remotelocation such as in a conference room for observers.

[0065] Accordingly, the surgical theater system 10 further includes acamera mounting arm assembly 90 having a horizontal arm section 92coupled to camera hub 94 of central hub 12. A vertical arm section 96 iscoupled to horizontal arm section 92. Vertical section 96 includes afirst, upper section 98 and a second, lower arm section 100 rotatablycoupled to arm section 98 about axis 102. A counterbalanced arm 104 iscoupled to lower vertical section 100 by a pivot connection 106. Acamera 108 includes a camera mounting arm 110 rotatably mounted on shaft112 by hub 114. Shaft 112 is pivotally connected to counterbalanced arm104 by pivot connection 116. Illustratively, camera 108 is a ModelDXC970MD available from Sony. It is understood that any suitable cameramay be used.

[0066] Camera arm assembly 90 is mounted to hub section or camera hub94. Hub section 94 is rotatable about axis 26 as illustrated bydouble-headed arrow 150. Lower vertical arm section 100 is rotatableabout axis 102 relative to upper vertical section 98 as illustrated bydouble-headed arrow 152. Counterbalanced arm 104 is pivotable relativeto vertical arm section 96 about pivot axis 154 as illustrated bydouble-headed arrow 156. Shaft 112 is pivotally mounted to the other endof counterbalanced arm 104 about pivot axis 158. In addition, mountingarm 110 is rotatably mounted to shaft 112 by hub 114 about axis 160 asillustrated by double-headed arrow 162. The illustrated arm 110 includesa horizontal arm section 164 rigidly mounted to hub 114, a verticallyextending arm section 166, and a horizontally extending coupling arm 168coupled to camera 108. Camera 108 is rotatable about axis 170 as shownby double-headed arrow 172. Handle 174 is provided for moving andcontrolling the camera 108.

[0067] Electrical cables are routed through arm assemblies 48 and 90through hub 112 to other equipment within the hospital room or connectedto a remote location through an electrical communication network. In theillustrated embodiment, camera arm assembly 90 is very similar tomonitor arm assembly 48, differing significantly from the monitor armassembly 48 only in the type of hub to which it is mounted at itsproximate end, the electrical cables routed therethrough, and the typeof lower mounting assembly coupled to the distal end of thecounterbalanced arm.

[0068] The spacing and relative position of the arm assemblies 28, 48,and 90 are illustrated in FIG. 2. The arms are spaced radially inwardlyfrom each other so that each arm can rotate 360° around central hub 12.The surgical lights 18 and 20 can, therefore, be placed at any desiredlocation relative to the operating table 16. In addition, the camera 108can be moved to desired locations including directly over the top of thesurgical table 16 as shown in FIG. 2.

[0069]FIG. 3 illustrates movement of the monitor arm assemblies 48 andthe camera arm assembly 90 of FIG. 1. As discussed above, the horizontalsections 50 of monitor arm assemblies 48 are pivotable about axes 56 and58 of bottom pivot joints 54 of connection hub 46 as illustrated bydouble-headed arrow 120. Stops are provided on bottom pivot joints 54and top pivot joints 122 attached to each horizontal arm section 50.Illustratively, the horizontal arm sections 50 pivot about 180° relativeto bottom pivot joint 54. As is described further below, once a stop ontop pivot joint 122 engages a stop on bottom pivot joint 54, furthermovement of monitor arm 50 causes the entire connection hub 46 torotate. Therefore, after the first monitor arm is rotated 180°, furtherrotation causes the first monitor arm and the other monitor arm torotate with connection hub 46.

[0070] Lower vertical section 62 of arm assembly 48 is rotatablerelative to upper vertical section 60 as illustrated by double-headedarrow 124, as shown, for example, in FIG. 3. Counterbalanced arm 66 ispivotable about axis 126 as illustrated by double-headed arrow 128.Shaft 130 is pivotally mounted to pivot connection 72 about axis 132.Therefore, the operator can pivot the monitor 42 about axis 132 bymoving handle 84 as shown by double-headed arrow 134. Hub 74 isrotatable on shaft 130 about axis 136 as illustrated by double-headedarrow 138. Mounting arm 78 is also rotatable relative to hub 82 aboutaxis 140 as illustrated by double-headed arrow 142.

[0071] As described above, and as shown more particularly in FIGS. 5-7,connection hub 46 includes a main hub section 47 and two diametricallyopposed bottom pivot joints 54 extending radially beyond outer surface400 of main hub section 47. In the illustrated embodiment, outer surface400 of main hub section 47 is a cylindrical surface concentric aboutrotation axis 26. Main hub section 47 is formed to include an interiorbore 404. Interior bore 404 is concentric about rotation axis 26.

[0072] Main hub section 47 is substantially similar to a standard hubsection for surgical lights with a few significant differences. Besidesthe obvious difference of having two diametrically opposed bottom pivotjoints 54 formed integrally therewith instead of a single support armconnector, main hub section 47 includes two, instead of one, radiallyextending holes 402 communicating between interior bore 404 and bottompivot joints 54. Main hub section 47 also includes a radially extendingcounter-bored hole 408 for receipt of a brake adjustment screw 410.

[0073] Radial holes 402 are provided to permit passage of cables 406containing wires for power, ground, video signals, and shield ground. Inthe illustrated embodiment, cables 406 contain four wires, i.e. a groundwire, a wire carrying electricity at 12 volts above the potential ofground wire, a shielded cable carrying a C video signal, and a shieldedcable containing a Y video signal. Different C and Y video signals canbe provided to each different monitor.

[0074] A pair of bearing assemblies 417 each include a first taperedrace 418, a second tapered race 422, and a plurality of caged rollingelements 420 positioned therebetween. Near top 412 and bottom 414 ofmain hub section 47, interior bore 404 is counter bored to form ashoulder 416 for receipt of first tapered race 418 on which rollingelements 420 run. Second tapered race 422 is formed to include a hole424 through which a lock pin 426 is inserted to stake race 422 to shaft430. Shaft 430 has this longitudinal axis of symmetry 431 on rotationaxis 26 which is illustratively concentric with longitudinal axis ofsymmetry of hub 46. Rolling elements 420 of bearings run on both taperedrace 422 fixed to shaft 430 and tapered race 418 held on shoulder 416 ofmain hub section 47 to allow main hub section 47 to rotate aboutrotation axis 26.

[0075] The ease with which connection hub 46 rotates about rotation axis26 can be set by the user or assembly technician through adjustment ofbrake assembly 432. Brake assembly 432 includes a brake pad 434, metalcylindrical sleeve 436, and brake adjustment screw 410. Illustratively,brake pad 434 is in the form of a Rulon® bushing. (Rulon® is aregistered trademark of Dixon Corporation). Brake pad 434 is press fitinto metal cylindrical sleeve 436 which is formed to include a tappedhole 438. Shaft 430 extends through Brake pad 434. Brake adjustmentscrew 410 extends through counter bored hole 408 in main hub section 47and is received in tapped hole 438. Tightening and loosening ofadjustment screw 410 causes the frictional force exerted by Brake pad434 on shaft 430 to be increased and decreased respectively. Preferably,these frictional forces are set so that monitor arm assemblies 48 canpivot through their full range about pivot axes 56 and 58 withoutinducing rotation of connection hub 46 about rotational axis 26. Oncemonitor arms 48 have reached their limits, further rotation of monitorarm 48 will induce rotation of the entire connection hub 46 aboutrotational axis 26.

[0076] Connection hub 46 is adapted to provide power and video signalsto monitors 42 and 44. To facilitate power and signal transmission tomonitors 42 and 44, connection hub 46 includes slip ring assembly 440.Slip ring assembly 440 is illustrated diagrammatically, the actualinternal construction being well known. Slip rings 440 are commerciallyavailable from Litton Systems, Inc., Blacksburg, Va., and are known inthe art. Slip ring assembly 440 includes an inner plastic sleeve 442,outer plastic sleeve 444, two four-wired cables 406, and a six-wirecable 452. Inner plastic sleeve 442 is formed to include a keyway 443 toreceive key 446 which is also received in keyway 428 formed in outersurface 429 of shaft 430 to couple inner sleeve 442 to shaft 430.Six-wire cable 452 runs through the interior shaft 430. Outer plasticsleeve 444 is formed to include a keyway 445 for receipt of a key 448which is also received in keyway 450 formed in interior bore 404 ofconnection hub 46 to fix outer sleeve 444 to connection hub 46.

[0077] Internally, slip ring assembly 440 includes seven mutuallyinsulated sets of slip rings. The first set of slip rings is coupled toa ground wire in six-wire cable 452 and a ground wire in each offour-wire cables 406. A second set of slip rings is connected to a wirecarrying electricity at 12 volts above the potential of ground insix-wire cable 452 and in both four-wire cables 406. The third set ofslip rings is connected to a shielded wire carrying the C video signalfor monitor 42 in the six-wire cable 452 and in the four-wire cable 406running to monitor 42. A fourth set of slip rings is coupled a shieldedwire carrying the Y video signal for monitor 42 in six-wire cable 452and the four-wire cable 406 running to monitor 42. A fifth set of sliprings is coupled to a shielded cable carrying the Y video signal formonitor 44 in six-wire cable 452 and the four-wire cable 406 running tomonitor 44. A sixth set of slip rings is coupled to the shielded wirescarrying the Y video signal for monitor 44 in six-wire cable 452 and thefour-wire cable 406 running to monitor 44. A seventh set of slip ringsis coupled to the shields for all of the shielded cables in six-wirecable 452 and four-wire cable 406 to provide a shield ground for all ofthe video signals.

[0078] In the illustrated embodiments, bottom pivot joints 54 areintegrally formed with main hub section 47 in connection with flange 458to form connection hub 46. Each bottom pivot joint 54 includes a convexbottom wall 460, a cylindrical outer wall 462, and a flat top wall 464.An arcuate-shaped stop 466 extends upwardly from flat top wall 464. Eachcylindrical outer wall 462 is concentric about a respective pivot axis56 and 58. Each arcuate stop 466 extends upwardly from flat top wall 464and radially 15° about flat top wall 464, as shown by angle 468 measuredfrom a respective pivot axis 56 and 58 in FIG. 7.

[0079] Flat top wall 464 is milled inwardly from arcuate stop 466 toform a shoulder 470. Bottom pivot joint 54 is also formed to include aupwardly opening interior cavity 72 defined by cylindrical inner walls474 and cylindrical post 476. Each cylindrical post 476 is concentricabout a respective pivot axis 56 and 58. An axial bore 478, coaxial witha respective pivot axis 56 and 58, extends through cylindrical post 476and convex bottom wall 60.

[0080] A large counter bore 480, coaxial with a respective pivot axis 56and 58, is formed in convex bottom wall 460. Counter bore 480 is definedby side wall 482 and wall 484. A radially extending slot 486 is formedin side wall 482 to receive snap legs 488 extending from convex body 490of cap 492. A hexagonal bolt headshaped hole 494 is formed in each wall484 concentric about a respective pivot axis 56 and 58 to receive thehead 496 of a hex bolt 498 to prevent hex bolt 498 from rotating withrespect to bottom pivot joint 54. Each hex bolt 498 acts as a pivot pinand is concentric about a respective pivot axis 56 and 58. As shown, forexample, in FIG. 6, cylindrical post 476 extends slightly upwardlybeyond flat top wall 64.

[0081] As shown, for example, in FIGS. 5, 6, and 8-10, a top pivot joint122 is pivotally coupled to each bottom pivot joint 54. Top pivot joint122 includes a housing 500 and an arm connection section 502. Housing500 includes a convex top wall 504, a cylindrical side wall 506 and aflat bottom wall 508. An arcuate slot 510 is formed in flat bottom wall508 and extends around flat bottom wall by an angle 512 measured from arespective pivot axis 54, 56 of approximately 195° as shown, forexample, in FIG. 8. Substantially inwardly from arcuate slot 510, flatbottom wall 508 is counter bored to form an inner cylindrical wall 514and a wall 516. A counter bored hole 507 extends through cylindricalside wall 506 and inner cylindrical wall 514. A cylindrical post 518extends downwardly from wall 516. Inner cylindrical wall 514 andcylindrical post 518 are concentric about a respective pivot axis 56 and58. As shown, for example, in FIG. 6 inner cylindrical wall 514 of toppivot joint 122 has substantially the same diameter as cylindrical innerwall 574 of bottom pivot joint 54. An axial bore 520, coaxial with arespective pivot axis 56 and 58, extends through cylindrical post 518and convex top wall 504.

[0082] Convex top wall 504 is bored to form a shoulder 522 concentricabout a respective pivot axis 54 and 56. An additional larger butshallower counter bore extends from convex top wall and is defined bystep 526 and side wall 524. A channel 528 is formed in side wall 524 toreceive snap legs 530 extending from the convex body 532 of a cap 534.

[0083] Arm connection section 502 includes a larger diameter taperedsection 536 which decreases in diameter as it extends from cylindricalside wall 506 of housing 500 and a small diameter cylindrical section538. Arm connection section 502 extends radially from housing 500. Smalldiameter cylindrical section 538 is formed to include threaded holes 540to facilitate coupling sleeve of horizontal arm 50 onto arm connectionsection 502. A wire bore 542 extends radially through inner cylindricalwall 514 of housing 500 and arm connection section 502.

[0084] During assembly of top pivot joint 122 to bottom pivot joint 54,bearings 549, formed from caged rolling elements 550 sandwiched betweentwo thrust washers 551, are placed on shoulder 470 of bottom pivot joint54. Hex bolt 498 is inserted through axial bore 478 until head 496 isreceived in hexagonal hole 494. A brake assembly 552 including a brakepad 554 in the form of a Rulon® bushing received in a metal cylindricalsleeve 556 and an adjustment screw 558 is attached to the shaft of hexbolt 498. Four-wire cable 406 is routed through hole 402, wrapped aroundcylindrical post 476 two times and then routed through wire bore 542 intop pivot joint 112. Top pivot joint 112 is then inserted over hex bolt498 so that hex bolt 498 extends through axial bore 520. Adjustmentscrew 558 is inserted through counter bored hole 507 in cylindrical sidewall 506 so that its threads are received in a threaded hole 560 inmetal cylindrical sleeve 556. Arcuate stop 466 is received in arcuateslot 510 and flat bottom wall 508 rests on thrust washer 551 of thebearings. Caged needle rolling elements and two thrust washers form athrust bearing 562 which is inserted to ride between shoulder 522 and athrust washer 564. Nut 566 is attached to bolt 498.

[0085] Cap 492 is inserted in bottom pivot joint 54 so that snap legs488 are received in slot 486. Cap 534 is attached to top pivot joint 122so that snap legs 530 are received in channel 528. Screws 568 areinserted through sleeve of arm and threaded holes 540 in arm connectionsection 502 to couple monitor arm 48 to connection hub 46. Brakeassembly 552 is adjusted by tightening or loosening adjustment screw 558to increase or decrease the frictional force exerted by Brake pad 554 onhex nut 498. Preferably, brake assembly 552 is adjusted so that toppivot joint 122 pivots more easily about pivot axis 56 and 58 thanconnection hub 46 rotates about rotation axis 26.

[0086] As shown, for example, in FIGS. 9-13, in the illustratedembodiment, each top pivot joint 122 pivots about a respective pivotaxis 56 and 58 approximately 180° between a first limit in which firstend 570 of arcuate slot 510 is contacted by first side 572 of arcuatestop 466 (shown in FIG. 10) and a second limit position wherein secondend 574 of slot 510 is engaged by second side 576 of arcuate stop 466(shown in FIG. 12). As shown, for example, in FIGS. 9, 10, and 12, ifbrake assemblies 552 and 432 are adjusted in a preferred manner,pivoting of either monitor arm 48 (not shown in FIGS. 9-13) attached toarm connection section 502 between the first limit position and thesecond limit position will not induce rotation of connection hub 46about rotation axis 26. After monitor arm 48 has been rotated in adirection until it reaches a limit position, as shown by FIGS. 10 and12, further rotation of the monitor arm 48 in the same direction willinduce rotation of connection hub 46 about rotation axis 26, as shown,for example, in FIGS. 11 and 13.

[0087] Counterbalanced arms 66, 104 are pivotable arms bearing loads,shown as monitors 42 and 44 and camera 108. Counterbalanced arms 66,104, like typical counterbalanced arms, include spring mechanisms whichact as counterbalances to the load carried at the end of the armopposite the pivot point. One problem experienced with counterbalancedarms is that after the counterbalanced arm has been pivoted so that itsload is at the desired height, the weight of the load may induce the armto pivot downwardly slightly after it is released. This unwanted travelis typically the result of the spring mechanism being improperlytensioned. Counterbalanced arms 66, 104 are designed to reduce thisunwanted travel. Counterbalanced arm 66 will be described hereafter, itbeing understood that counterbalanced arm 104 is similarly constructed.

[0088] Counterbalanced arm 66 includes a first plastic housing half 210,a second plastic housing half 212, and an arm assembly 214. Firsthousing half 210 is joined to second housing half 212 to enclose armassembly 214 to provide an easily cleanable outer surface and to preventparticulate matter and fluids from interfering with the mechanisms ofarm assembly 214. It is within the scope of the disclosure to house thestructural elements of the counterbalanced arm 66 within otherappropriate enclosure including a cast aluminum one piece enclosure.

[0089] Arm assembly 214 includes a load bracket 216, an upright bracket218, a first gas cylinder 220, a second gas cylinder 222, a bottom boxC-shaped link 224, a top box C-shaped link 226, a counterarm 228, acounterarm bracket 230, a slide pin 232, a counterarm bracket adjustmentscrew 234, and a plurality of pivot pins 236, 238, 240, 242, 244. Link224 and link 226 are pivotally mounted to, and extend parallel to eachother between, upright bracket 216 and load bracket 218. Counterarm 228is pivotally mounted at a first end 246 to counterarm bracket 230 whichis slidably mounted to load bracket 218. Counterarm 228 is pivotallymounted at a second end 248 to first ends 250 of gas cylinders 220 and222 and is slidably coupled to link 224. The second ends 252 of gascylinders 222 and 220 are pivotally mounted to upright bracket 216 bypivot pin 242.

[0090] In the illustrated embodiment, bottom link 224 includes two sidewalls 254 and 256 extending perpendicularly from the bottom wall 258.Bottom link 224 may be constructed in any of several alternativefashions, including, for example, having separate side linkscorresponding to side walls 254 and 256, or from a hollow rectangulartube which would include a top wall extending between side walls 254 and256 parallel to bottom wall 258. Bottom link 224 has a width 278. Weldedor otherwise mounted to side walls 254 and 256 at a first end 260 ofbottom link 224 are mounting ears 262. Mounting ears 264 are also weldedor otherwise attached to sidewalls 254 and 256 at second end 261 ofbottom link 224. First end 260 and mounting ears 262 define a bottomopening 268 and second end and mounting ears 264 define a bottom opening270. Side walls 254 and 256, of bottom link 224 are formed to include aslide slot 272 through which slide pin 232 extends to couple counterarm228 to an intermediate portion of bottom link 224, as shown, forexample, in FIGS. 14 and 15.

[0091] Mounting ears 262 are formed to include mounting holes 274through which pivot pin 238 is received to pivotally mount bottom link224 to upright bracket 218. Mounting ears 264 are formed to includemounting holes 276 through which pivot pin 242 is received to pivotallymount bottom link 224 to load bracket 216. While bottom link 224 hasbeen described as having separate mounting ears 262 and 264 welded orotherwise attached thereto, it is within the teaching of the inventionfor mounting ears 262 and 264 to be formed integrally with bottom link224.

[0092] Top link 226 includes side walls 280 and 282 and top wall 284.Side walls 280 and 282 extend upwardly from top wall 284. Top link 226may be constructed in any of several alternative fashions, including,for example, having one or more separate L-shaped links as shown byphantom lines in FIG. 14. Top link 226 has a width 304 which is greaterthan width 278 of bottom link 224 facilitating assembly of bottom link224 and top link 226 so that side walls 280 and 282 extend downwardlyalong the outside of side walls 254 and 256 to form an enclosure. Atfirst end 286, offset mounting ears 288 are welded or otherwise attachedto side walls 280 and 282. Likewise, at second end 292, similarly shapedoffset mounting ears 290 are welded or otherwise attached to side walls280 and 282 of top link 226. Offset mounting ears 288 and first end 286of top wall 284 define a top opening 294 at first end 286. At secondend, offset mounting ears 290 and second end 292 of top wall 284 definea top opening 296. Side walls 280 and 282 are formed with thelongitudinally extending recess 298 positioned to allow movement of slotpin 232 within longitudinal slide slot 272 when bottom link 224 and toplink 226 are positioned adjacent each other.

[0093] Offset mounting ear 288 is formed to include mounting holes 300through which pivot pin 236 passes to pivotally couple first end 286 oftop link 226 to upright bracket 218. Likewise, offset mounting ear 290is formed to include mounting hole 302 through which pivot pin 240passes to pivotally mount second end 292 of top link 226 to load bracket216. While top link 226 and offset mounting ears 288 and 290 aredescribed as separate pieces welded or otherwise attached to each other,it is within the teaching of this invention to form top link 226 andoffset mounting 288 and 290 as a single integral piece.

[0094] Bottom opening 268 and top opening 294 at first ends 260 and 286of bottom link 224 and top link 226, respectively, facilitate pivotingof arm assembly 214 about upright bracket 218. Bottom opening 270 andtop opening 296 at second end 266 and 292 of bottom link 224 and toplink 226, respectively, facilitate the pivoting of arm assembly 214about load bracket 216.

[0095] Upright bracket 218 includes a main frame 306 and a mountingshaft 346. Counterbalance adjustment bracket 308 is received in mainframe 306. Mainframe 306 includes two upwardly extending ears 310 and312, two downwardly extending ears 314 and 316, and a cross member 318.Cross member 318 extends between and connects upper ears 310 and 312 anddownwardly extending ears 314 and 316. Cross member 318 extends onlypartially from rear face of main frame 306 towards front face of mainframe 306 to avoid interfering with pivoting action of links 224 and 226and counterarm 228. Upwardly extending ears 310 and 312 are formed toinclude first mounting holes 322 through which pivot pin 236 passes tocouple top link 226 to upright bracket 218. Ears 310 and 312 are alsoformed to include second mounting holes 324 through which pivot pin 238passes to pivotally couple bottom link 224 to upright bracket 218.Mounting shaft 346 is welded or otherwise attached to rear of mainframe306 for coupling counterbalanced arm 66 to other components of the armassembly 48. Downwardly extending ears 314 and 316 are formed to includeadjustment slots 326 through which pivot pin 244 extends to couplecounterarm 228 to upright bracket 218.

[0096] Counterbalance adjustment bracket 230 includes a top wall 328 andspaced apart ears 332 and 334. Top wall 328 is formed to include anadjustment hole 330. Spaced apart ears 332 and 334 extend downwardlyfrom opposite sides of top wall 328. Top wall 328 and ears 332 and 334define a channel 336 designed to receive the first end of counterarm228. Counterbalance adjustment bracket 230 is received between ears 314and 316 of main frame 306. Ears 332 and 334 are formed to includemounting holes 338 through which pivot pin 244 passes to pivotally mountcounterarm 228 to counterbalance adjustment bracket 230 and slidablymount counterbalance adjustment bracket 230 and counterarm 228 to mainframe 306.

[0097] Cross member 318 is formed to include a threaded hole 340 withinwhich threads of bracket adjustment screw 234 are received. The shaft ofcounter balance bracket adjustment screw 234 passes through adjustmenthole 330 so that tightening of counterbalance bracket adjustment screw234 will cause counter balance adjustment bracket 230 to move in thedirection of arrow 344. When counterbalance bracket adjustment screw 234is loosened, the weight of the monitor and arm assembly 214 istransferred through counterarm 228 to urge counter balance adjustmentbracket 230 downwardly. This movement allows a user to adjust thetension exerted by gas cylinders 220 and 222 at an optimum level tominimize unwanted travel after vertically positioning monitor or camera.

[0098] Second end 258 of counterarm 228 is formed to include a yoke 352.Ears 354 of yoke 352 are formed to include mounting holes 356 throughwhich slide pin 232 passes to slidably couple counterarm 228 to bottomlink 224 and pivotally mount counterarm 228 to first end 250 of firstand second gas cylinders 220 and 222.

[0099] Load bracket 216 includes mounting shaft 358 and frame 360. Frame360 is formed to include ears 362 and 364 and cross member 366. Mountingshaft 358 is welded or otherwise attached to frame 360 and ears 362 and364. Ears 362 and 364 are formed to include mounting holes 368 throughwhich pivot pin 242 passes to couple second end of bottom link 224 toload bracket 216, and mounting holes 370 through which pivot pin 240passes to pivotally mount second end of top link 226 to load bracket216. Second ends 252 of gas cylinders 220 and 222 are pivotally coupledby pivot pin 242 to load bracket 216. Plastic spacers 372 are disposedon pivot pin 242 between ear 364 and second end 252 of gas spring 224,between second end 252 of gas spring 222 and second end 252 of gasspring 220, and between second end 252 of gas spring 220 and ear 364, tomaintain alignment of gas springs 220 and 222.

[0100] Counterbalanced arm 66 can move between a lower position (shownin phantom lines in FIG. 15) in which slide pin 232 is nearest secondend 374 of slot 272 and an upper position (shown in solid lines in FIG.15) wherein slide pin 232 is nearest first end 376 of slot 272. Gascylinders 220 and 222 cooperate with friction between mounting ears 262and 288 and load bracket 218 and mounting ears 264 and 290 and uprightbracket 216 to allow counterbalanced arm 66 to be stopped and held inany position between the lower limit and upper limit.

[0101] An unillustrated alternative, or additional, device to facilitateelimination of unwanted travel in counterbalanced arm 66, is a brakemechanism similar in construction and operation to the brake mechanismsin main hub 47 and top pivot joint 122. The brake mechanism may becoupled to bottom link 224 and either or both pivot pins 238 and 242.The brake mechanism includes a brake pad in the form of a Rulon® bushingreceived in a metal cylindrical sleeve through which pivot pins 238and/or 242 pass, a flange extending inwardly from either of sidewalls254 and 256 of bottom link 224, and an adjustment screw 384. Theinwardly extending flange is formed to include a hole through which theshaft of adjustment screw passes and metal cylindrical sleeve is formedto include a threaded hole in which the threads of shaft of adjustmentscrew are received. As adjustment screw is tightened and loosened, Brakepad exerts altering frictional forces on pivot pins 242 and 238. Thisfrictional force may be adjusted to eliminate unwanted travel.

[0102]FIG. 4 illustrates a fixed height monitor arm assembly 180. Thoseelements referenced by the same reference numeral in FIG. 4 as was usedto identify a corresponding element in FIG. 1-3 perform the same orsimilar function as the corresponding element in FIGS. 1-3. Lowervertical arm section 62 and counterbalanced arm 66 are replaced by anoffset or S-shaped section 182 including an upper section 184 rotatablycoupled to arm section 60 about axis 64 as illustrated by double-headedarrow 186. A central, horizontal arm section 188 extends between upperarm section 184 and a lower arm section 190. A mounting assembly 192couples the arm portion 182 to the monitor 42. A handle 194 is coupledto a monitor support 196. A shaft 198 is rotatably coupled to armsection 190 about axis 200 as illustrated by double-headed arrow 202.Arm 198 is also coupled to support 196 for pivotable movement about axis204 as illustrated by double-headed arrow 206.

[0103] Many health care facilities include multiple OR suites in whichthe healthcare staff may wish to perform operations to be filmed or inwhich video images may be useful in facilitating the surgical operation.Often less than all of the OR suites will be utilized at the same time.Even if all OR suites are in use at the same time, often not all of theoperations being simultaneously performed will need to be filmed or willrequire monitors providing images for the surgeon. Occasionally,surgical procedures will be performed that will require two cameras andonly a single monitor or three monitors and no camera. Therefore, inaccordance with another aspect of the present invention, a surgicaltheater system 10 includes either a multipurpose arm 648 configured toremovably receive a camera 108, and/or a monitor 42 and 44 or amulti-purpose receptacle 745 configured to receive a camera arm 790 or amonitor arm 748. As shown for example, in FIGS. 16 and 17, embodimentsof the surgical theater system 10 are provided to facilitatereconfiguration of the surgical theater system 10 by adding or removingcameras 108 or monitors 42 and 44 from the assembly. In one of theseembodiments, a multipurpose arm 648 is provided configured to supporteither a monitor mount 649 or a camera mount 647. In a secondembodiment, a multi-purpose receptacle 745 is provided configured tosupport either a monitor arm 748 or a camera arm 790. The multi-purposearm 648 and the multi-purpose receptacle 745 each include a mechanicalconnector for mechanically coupling either a monitor mount 649 or amonitor arm 748 or a camera mount 647 or a camera arm 790 to themulti-purpose arm 648 or multipurpose receptacle 745. Each multi-purposearm 648 and multipurpose receptacle 745 also includes one or morestandard video couplings located adjacent the mechanical connector forattachment to the video lead coupled to a camera 108 and/or a monitor 42and 44.

[0104] Thus, a health care facility upon installation of a surgicaltheater system in accordance with the present invention is capable ofreconfiguring the surgical theater system to provide as many monitors 42and 44, and cameras 108, or combinations of monitors 42 and 44, andcameras 108 as the apparatus has multipurpose arms 648 or multi-purposereceptacles 745. It is within the teaching of the disclosure formulti-purpose arms 648 and multi-purpose receptacles 745 to beconfigured to receive other device mounts and arms, such as, forexample, surgical lighthead mounts and arms, respectively.

[0105]FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate two alternative embodiments of such asurgical theater system 10, however, additional non-illustratedembodiments providing a single or a plurality of multi-purpose arms orreceptacles or multi-purpose arms or receptacles providing fordisconnection at different locations are within the scope of theinvention as presently perceived. It is within the scope of theinvention to provide a plurality of similarly configured surgicaltheater systems 10 throughout a healthcare facility between whichmonitors 42 and 44 and/or cameras 108 may be exchanged.

[0106]FIG. 16 illustrates a first configurable surgical light apparatushaving a pair of surgical light heads 18, 20 coupled to a central hub12, and a pair of multipurpose arms 648 coupled to pivot joints 54 onhub 12. Surgical light support arms 28 include horizontally extendingsections 30 and vertically extending sections 32. Vertically extendingarm sections 32 include upper and lower sections 34 and 36 so that thevertical sections 32 are rotatable about an axis 38 (shown in FIG. 1). Acounterbalanced arm 40 is pivotally coupled to vertical arm section 32for supporting surgical lights 18 and 20.

[0107] Monitors 42 and 44 and/or camera are coupled to multi-purpose hub646 by multi-purpose arm assemblies 648. Multi-purpose hub 646 issimilar to connection hub 46 and identical or similar reference numeralswill be used to identify identical and similar components. It is to beunderstood that the description of connection hub 46 set forth above isgenerally applicable to multi-purpose hub 646. While multi-purpose hub646, illustrated in cross-section in FIG. 18, is illustrated as beingused only with multi-purpose arm assembly 648 and multi-purposereceptacle 745, multi-purpose hub 646 is adaptable for use with any ofthe illustrated surgical theater systems. Similarly, connection hub 46is adaptable for use with any of the illustrated surgical theater systemembodiments.

[0108] Multi-purpose hub 646 includes a slip ring assembly 645configured for attachment to the lower end of shaft. Cable 653 extendsinternally through shaft 430 and is electrically coupled to a first endof slip ring assembly 645. Illustratively, cable 653 includestwenty-eight wires which carry power, ground and video signals to orfrom two separate video devices. Two cables 607 are electrically coupledto second end of slip ring assembly 640. Each cable 607 includesfourteen wires which carry power, ground and video signals to or from asingle video devices. Slip ring assembly 645 includes 28 sets of sliprings to transfer the power, ground and video signals between the wiresof cable 653 and cable 607. Illustratively, slip ring assembly 645 iscommercially available from AirFlite, as part number #100164-001.

[0109] Multi-purpose hub 646 includes a pair of diametrically opposedlongitudinally extending holes 603 cast or machined in the main hubsection 47. Each longitudinal hole 603 intersects with a respectiveradially extending hole 402 to permit passage of cables 603 extendingfrom second end of slip ring assembly 645 into lower pivot joint 54 andout of distal end of wire bore 542 of arm connection section 502 of toppivot joint 122. Each cable 607 terminates in an electrical connector643 configured for attachment to an arm cable coupled to a video device.

[0110] Each multi-purpose arm 648 is identical to the other and is verysimilar to monitor support arm assembly 48. Thus, except where otherwisenoted below, the description of monitor support arm assembly 48 aboveaccurately describes multipurpose arm 648 and will not be repeated.Components in multi-purpose arm 648 that are similar to correspondingcomponents in monitor support arm assembly 48 will be identified withsimilar reference numerals.

[0111] Illustratively, a multi-purpose arm assembly 648 includes a bentarm or first segment having a horizontal arm section 650 and a verticalarm section 652. Horizontal arm sections 650 are coupled to bottom pivotjoints 54 which extend away from a main hub section 47 of connection hub646. Therefore, the horizontal arm sections 650 are pivotable aboutpivot axes 56 and 58 (shown in FIG. 1) which are spaced apart from thepivot axis 26 (shown in FIG. 1) of central hub 12.

[0112] Vertical arm sections 652 of multi-purpose arm assemblies 648illustratively include first and second sections 660 and 662. The secondvertical section or extension arm 662 is rotatable relative to the firstvertical section 660 about axis 64 (Shown in FIG. 1). Counterbalancedarms 666 are pivotally connected to second vertical section 662 by apivot connection 668 located at the proximate end of counterbalanced arm666. A second pivot connection 672 is located at the distal end ofcounterbalanced arm 666.

[0113] Multi-purpose arms 648 include a coupling 651 coupled to pivotconnection 672 at the distal end of a counterbalanced arm section 666 ofthe multipurpose arm 648. A monitor 42 is shown mounted to the firstmulti-purpose arm 648 via a monitor mount 649. A camera coupled to acamera mount 647 and a second monitor 44 coupled to a monitor mount 649are shown disconnected from the second multi-purpose arm 648. Cameramount 647 and both monitor mounts 649 are each provided with one half ofa mechanical quick disconnect coupling 655 of a known type configured toconnect to a second half of a mechanical quick disconnect coupling 651mounted to pivot connection 672 on the distal end of counterbalanced armsection 666 of multi-purpose arm 648.

[0114] Monitor mount 649 includes a horizontal arm 670 coupled to hub674. Hub 674 is coupled to first half of connector 653. A vertical arm676 is coupled to horizontal arm section 670. A monitor mounting arm 678has a first end rotatably coupled to a hub 682 of vertical arm 676. Ahandle 84 is coupled to the first end of monitor mounting arm 678.Illustratively duplicate toggle switch 606 is mounted to handle 84. Asecond end of mounting arm 678 is coupled to a monitor support plate(not shown) mounted to monitor 42 and 44. The description of themovement of monitor mounting arm assembly 48 set forth above accuratelydescribes the movement of multi-purpose arm 648 when monitor mount 649is coupled thereto and will not be repeated. Cables (not shown) runthrough monitor mount 649 to provide power and video signals to monitor42 and 44. These cables terminate in an electrical connector (not shown)located adjacent to mechanical coupling 653 for coupling cables ofmonitor mount 649 to a connector (not shown) located adjacent mechanicalcoupling 651 of multi-purpose arm 648. Electrical connectorsfacilitating the coupling of video equipment are well known in the artand are therefore not described.

[0115] Camera mount 647 includes a first half of a quick disconnectcoupling 655 coupled to hub 714. Camera mount 647 includes a cameramounting arm 710 rotatably mounted to coupling 653 by hub 714. Apan/tilt mechanism housing 711 is coupled to mounting arm 710 and camera108. Housed in housing 711 are motors and mechanisms permitting remotepanning and tilting of camera 108. Camera 108 includes internalmechanisms, motors and controls to facilitate focus adjustment, zooming,iris adjustment, and white balance adjustment. Extending downwardly fromcamera hub 711 is handle 713 including on/off switch 715 electricallycoupled to turn camera 108 on and off. In one preferred embodiment,handle 713 includes a longitudinal axis 717. Handle 713 is mounted tocamera hub 711 for pivotal movement about the longitudinal axis 717.Pivotal movement of handle 713 about longitudinal axis 717 actuates anactuator coupled to the zoom mechanism of the camera 108. Preferably,handle 713 also includes an actuator (not shown) such as a button toadjust the focus of the camera 108. It is within the teaching of thepresent invention for handle 713 to be a sterile handle so that asurgeon or other operating room personnel can turn the camera on and offduring an operation. It is understood that any suitable camera 108 maybe used.

[0116] Cables (not shown) run through camera mount 647 to provide power,pan, zoom, tilt, focus, white balance, and iris signals to, and videosignals from camera 108. These cables terminate in an electricalconnector (not shown) located adjacent to mechanical coupling 653 forcoupling cables of camera mount 647 to a connector (not shown) locatedadjacent mechanical coupling 651 of multi-purpose arm 648.

[0117] Multi-purpose arm 648 is provided with radial holes to permitpassage of cables containing thirty-two wires (not shown). Twenty ofthese thirty-two wires provide power, pan, zoom, tilt, focus, whitebalance, and iris signals to, and video signals from camera 108, whencamera mount 647 is attached to multi-purpose arm 648. It should beunderstood that all cameras 108 attached to multi-purpose arm will nothave mounts and mechanisms facilitating remote control of panning,zooming, tilting, white balancing, and iris adjustment. The remaining 12wires provide power and video signals to a monitor 42 and 44 when amonitor 42 and 44 is attached to multi-purpose arm 648.

[0118] It should be understood that multi-purpose arm 648 may beprovided with standard brake mechanisms within counterbalanced armsection 666 to lock counterbalanced arm 666 at a location prior toremoval of camera mount 647 or monitor mount 649 and replacement withanother camera mount 647 or monitor mount 649. Alternatively, quickdisconnect coupling 651 may be provided with mechanisms prohibitingremoval of a camera mount 647 or monitor mount 649 unlesscounterbalanced arm 666 is placed in its uppermost raised location asshown in FIG. 16. Other mechanisms and methods of attachment anddetachment of mounts 647 and 649 which inhibit a rapid movement ofcounterbalanced arm 666 to its uppermost raised location upon removal ofa camera mount 647 or monitor mount 649 are within the scope of theinvention as presently perceived.

[0119] It should be understood that monitor mount 649 and camera mount647 may include ballast so that the weight of camera mount 647 andmonitor mount 649 can be adjusted to a selected weight for which thecounterbalanced arm 666 is calibrated. It is also within the teaching ofthis invention as presently perceived to provide counterbalanced arm 666with calibration mechanisms to adjust counterbalanced arm 666 for properoperation when coupled to loads of different weights.

[0120]FIG. 17 illustrates a second configurable surgical theater system10 having a pair of surgical light heads 18, 20 coupled to a central hub12, and a pair of multi-purpose receptacles 745 (only one of which isvisible in FIG. 17) configured to be coupled at one end to a monitor arm748 or a camera arm 790 and at the other end to a pivot joint 54 on hub12. Surgical light support arms 28 include horizontally extendingsections 30 and vertically extending sections 32. Vertically extendingarm sections 32 include upper and lower sections 34 and 36 so that thevertical sections 32 are rotatable about an axis 38 (shown in FIG. 1). Acounterbalanced arm 40 is pivotally coupled to vertical arm section 32for supporting surgical lights 18 and 20.

[0121] Monitor 42 and/or camera 108 are coupled to multi-purpose hub 646by a dedicated monitor arm 748 or a dedicated camera arm 790respectively coupled to multi-purpose receptacle 745. Each multi-purposereceptacle 745 is substantially identical to the other. Multi-purposereceptacles 745 include a coupling 751 at their distal ends and arecoupled at their proximate ends for pivotal movement about pivot joint54.

[0122] A monitor 42 is shown mounted to the first multi-purposereceptacle 745 via a monitor arm 748 and a camera 108 coupled to acamera arm 790 is shown disconnected from the second multi-purposereceptacle 745. It should be understood that a second monitor arm 748could be coupled to second multi-purpose receptacle 745 to provide asurgical theater system with two monitors. Similarly, a second cameraarm could be coupled to the first multi-purpose receptacle to provide asurgical theater system with two cameras. Camera arm 790 and monitor arm748 are each provided with one half of a mechanical coupling 753configured to connect to a second half of a mechanical coupling 751mounted to multi-purpose receptacle 745. In the illustrated embodiment,the proximate end of monitor arm 648 and camera arm 790 slide over thearm connection section 502 of top pivot joint 122 and are bolted theretoto provide mechanical connection. It will be understood that it iswithin the teaching of the disclosure to provide arm connection section502 of top pivot joint 122 with one half a standard mechanical quickdisconnect connection and to provide the proximate ends of monitor arm748 and camera arm 790 with the other half of a standard mechanicalquick disconnect section.

[0123] Monitor arm 748 is very similar to monitor support arm assembly48. Thus, except where otherwise noted below, the description of monitorsupport arm assembly 48 above accurately describes monitor arm 748 andwill not be repeated. Components in monitor arm 748 that are similar tocorresponding components in monitor support arm assembly 48 will beidentified with similar reference numerals.

[0124] Referring to FIGS. 17, 19, and 20, a monitor arm 748 isillustrated. Illustratively, monitor arm 748 includes a bent arm orfirst segment having a horizontal arm section 750 and a vertical armsection 752. Horizontal arm section 750 includes a first half of amechanical coupling at its proximate end configured for coupling to asecond half of a coupling 751 at distal end of multi-purpose receptacle745. As mentioned above, multi-purpose receptacle 745 is coupled at itsproximate end to bottom pivot joints 54 which extend away from a mainhub section 47 of connection hub 46. Therefore, the horizontal armsections 750 are pivotable about pivot axes 56 and 58 (shown in FIG. 1)which are spaced apart from the pivot axis 26 (shown in FIG. 1) ofcentral hub 12.

[0125] Vertical arm sections 752 of monitor arm 748 illustrativelyincludes first and second sections 760 and 762. The second verticalsection or extension arm 762 is rotatable relative to the first verticalsection 760 about axis 64. Counterbalanced arms 766 are pivotallyconnected to second vertical section 762 by a pivot connection 768located at the proximate end of counterbalanced arm 766. A second pivotconnection 772 is located at the distal end of counterbalanced arm 766.

[0126] A horizontal arm 770 coupled by hub 774 to second pivotconnection 772 of counterbalanced arm 766. A vertical arm 776 is coupledto horizontal arm section 770. A monitor mounting arm 778 has a firstend rotatably coupled to a hub 782 of vertical arm 776. A handle 84 iscoupled to the first end of monitor mounting arm 778. Illustrativelyduplicate toggle switch 606 is mounted to handle 84. A second end ofmounting arm 778 is coupled to a monitor support plate 786 mounted tomonitor 42.

[0127] The description of the movement of monitor mounting arm assembly48 set forth above accurately describes the movement of monitor arm 748and multipurpose receptacle 745 when monitor arm 748 is coupled theretoand will not be repeated. Cables run through monitor arm 748 to providepower and video signals to monitor 42, which illustratively includecable 761, cable 763, cable 765, cable 767. Illustratively, cable 761terminates in an electrical connector 759 located adjacent to mechanicalcoupling 753 for coupling to connector 643 of cable 607 located adjacentmechanical coupling 751 of multi-purpose receptacle 745. The other endof cable 761 is coupled to a first end of slip ring assembly 769 mountedfrictionally mounted in lower arm 62 of vertical arm 52 adjacent to thepoint where lower arm is rotatably coupled to upper arm. Illustratively,slip ring assemblies 769 and 771 are available from Litton Systems,Inc., Blacksburg, Va., as part number AC6319. Such slip ring assembliesinclude 14 sets of slip rings allowing two power and twelve signals tobe transferred between cables on opposite sides of rotating components.

[0128] The second end of slip ring assembly 769 is coupled to a firstend of cable 763 which runs through lower arm 762 and counter balancedarm 766. Second end of cable 763 is coupled to a first end of slip ringassembly 771. Slip ring assembly 771 is frictionally mounted within hub774 adjacent to the point where hub 774 is rotatably mounted to secondpivot connection 772 of counterbalanced arm 766. Second end of slip ringassembly 771 is electrically coupled to first end of cable 765 whichextends through hub 774, horizontal arm 770, vertical arm 776 and hub772. The other end of cable 765 is coupled through switch 606 to one endof cable 767. Cable 767 extends through monitor mounting arm 778 andterminates in a plurality of connectors 773 for coupling to a monitor.

[0129] Camera arm 790 is similar to camera mounting arm assembly 90 sosimilar reference numerals will be used for similar components. Themajor differences between camera arm 790 and camera arm mountingassembly 90 are the cables running through the camera arm 790 and cameramounting arm assembly 90 and the fact that the camera arm 790 includescouplings for mounting to multipurpose receptacle 745 rather than beingmounted to a separate camera hub 94 like camera mounting arm assembly90. Camera arm 790 also includes a mechanism housing 811 in whichremotely operable pan/tilt motors and mechanisms are housed.

[0130] Camera arm 790 includes a horizontal arm section 792 having aproximate end including a first half of a mechanical coupling 753configured to mate with second half of mechanical coupling 751 ofmulti-purpose receptacle 745 mounted to pivot joint 54 of hub 646 ofcentral hub 12. A vertical arm section 796 is coupled to distal end ofhorizontal arm section 792. Vertical section 796 includes a first, uppersection 798 and a second, lower arm section 800 rotatably coupled to armsection 798 about axis 102 (shown in FIG. 1). A counterbalanced arm 804is coupled to lower vertical section 800 by a pivot connection (notshown). Shaft 812 is pivotally connected to counterbalanced arm 804 bypivot connection 816.

[0131] Camera mounting arm 810 is rotatably mounted on shaft 812 by hub814. A pan/tilt mechanism housing 811 is coupled to mounting arm 810 andcamera 108. Housed in housing 811 are motors and mechanisms permittingremote panning and tilting of camera 108. Camera 108 includes internalmechanisms, motors and controls to facilitate focus adjustment, zooming,iris adjustment, and white balance adjustment. Extending downwardly fromcamera housing 811 is handle 813 including on/off switch 815electrically coupled to turn camera 108 on and off. In one preferredembodiment, handle 813 includes a longitudinal axis 817. Handle 813 ismounted to camera hub 811 for pivotal movement about the longitudinalaxis 817. Pivotal movement of handle 813 about longitudinal axis 817actuates an actuator (not shown) coupled to the zoom mechanism of thecamera 108. Preferably, handle 813 also includes an actuator (not shown)such as a button to adjust the focus of the camera 108. It is within theteaching of the present invention for handle 813 to be a sterile handleso that a surgeon or other operating room personnel can turn the cameraon and off during an operation. It is understood that any suitablecamera 108 may be used.

[0132] Cables (not shown) run through camera arm 790 to provide power,pan, zoom, tilt, focus, white balance, and iris signals to, and videosignals from camera 108. These cables terminate in an electricalconnector (not shown) located adjacent to mechanical coupling 753 forcoupling cables of camera arm 790 to a connector (not shown) locatedadjacent mechanical coupling 751 of multi-purpose receptacle 745. Sliprings of the type described with regard to monitor arm 748 facilitaterotation of components of camera arm 790 relative to each other.

[0133] Multi-purpose receptacle 745 is provided with radial holes topermit passage of cables therethrough for coupling to cables withincamera arm. When the camera 108 and camera mount 811 may be remotelycontrolled, such cable contains fourteen wires (not shown). These wiresprovide power, pan, zoom, tilt, focus, white balance, and iris signalsto, and video signals from camera 108, when camera arm 790 is attachedto multi-purpose receptacle 745 and an indicator signal to indicatewhether the cable is carrying signals for a monitor or camera. It shouldbe understood that all cameras 108 attached to camera arms will not havemounts and mechanisms facilitating remote control of panning, zooming,tilting, white balancing, and iris adjustment.

[0134] Referring to FIGS. 21-26, two embodiments of controls for asurgical theater system are shown. As will be explained in detailhereafter, a surgical theater system is provided with a video monitormounted to an arm extending from the hub of the surgical theater system.The monitor is adapted to display images received from a plurality ofvideo inputs coupled to a plurality of video devices. A controller iscoupled between the plurality of video inputs and the monitor to controlthe image that is displayed on the monitor. The controller may includeswitches mounted away from, but coupled to, the surgical theater systemhub and switches mounted to the monitor arm or the monitor for selectingthe video input providing the image displayed by the monitor.

[0135] Controls facilitate selectively displaying images from aplurality of video devices 592. Each of the embodiments includes aselector control panel 585 and 636 having an input control panel 608 and638 and an output panel 610. Each input control panel 608 and 638includes a plurality of connectors 586, 588, 590 configured for couplingto a plurality of video devices 592 providing a video feed, selectorbuttons 594, 640, 642 for selecting which connector 586, 588, 590 isactive, and indicator lights 596, 598, 600 indicating the activeconnector. Each output panel 610 includes a plurality of connectors 616,618, 620 configured to be coupled to a monitor or video display devicelocated remotely from the surgical theater system (not shown). Eachembodiment allows a video feed from a camera 108 mounted to the surgicaltheater system 10 or a remote video device to be displayed on themonitors 42 and 44 of the surgical theater system or on remote monitorsor video displays coupled to the output panel 610.

[0136] In the preferred embodiment, shown, for example, in FIGS. 21-24,a remotely mounted selector control panel 585 includes a multi-channelinput panel 608, an output panel 610, and monitor input selector panel595. The multi-channel input panel 608 is coupled to one or two monitors42 and 44 coupled to the hub of the surgical theater system. In theillustrated embodiment, four channels 581-584 are provided through whichvideo signals from a plurality of video devices 592 are transmitted.

[0137] As shown for example in FIGS. 21-24, selector device 580 includesa selector control panel 585, a power supply 622, and a switcher 632.Selector control panel 585 includes a multi-channel input selector panel608 having four channels, referred to hereinafter as channels 1-4 (581,582, 583, 584 respectively). Each channel 581-584 includes threedifferent types of video connectors, i.e. a y-c connector 586 (shown assquares in FIG. 24), a composite connector 588 (shown as triangles inFIG. 24), and an RGB connector 590 (shown as circles in FIG. 24), tofacilitate coupling a wide variety of video input devices 592 to eachchannel 581-584. Each channel 581-584 includes a selector switch 594permitting the user to select between available connectors 586, 588, 590to designate an active connector providing the video feed for thatchannel.

[0138] When a video device 592 is plugged into one of the channels581-584, the connector of the video device 592 is coupled to thesimilarly configured connector 586, 588, 590 of the channel 581-584, asshown, for example, in FIG. 24. The appropriate connector 586, 588, 590is selected as the active connector corresponding to the connector 586,588, 590 to which the video device 592 is coupled by toggling of theselector switch 594. Indicator lights 596, 598, 600, such as LEDs, areprovided adjacent to each connector 586, 588, 590 of each channel581-584. When a specific connector 586, 588, 590 is selected as theactive connector, the indicator light 596, 598, 600 corresponding tothat connector 586, 588, 590 is lit.

[0139] Because there are four channels 581-584 each having threeconnectors 586, 588, 590, up to twelve video devices 592 can be coupledto the surgical theater system 10 although only one video device 592 perchannel 581-584 will have its 67385 video feed available for display ona monitor 42 and 44 of the surgical theater system 10 at any time. Whilethe illustrated embodiment, shows three inputs (each input correspondingto a connector 586, 588, 590) per channel and four channels 581-584 inthe system, it is within the scope of the disclosure as currentlyperceived to provide a selector system with fewer or more connectors orchannels.

[0140] The illustrated selector control panel 585 may be locatedremotely from the surgical theater system 10. It is within the teachingof the disclosure for the selector control panel 585 to be mounted to awall of the OR suite, to a separate boom in the OR suite, to some otherlocation remote from the surgical theater system 10, or to the surgicaltheater system 10. For purposes of this description, the selectorcontrol panel 585 will be described as being mounted to a wall of the ORsuite at a location remote from the surgical theater system 10. Aspreviously described, remotely mounted controls for the surgical lightsare often mounted to walls of surgical suites and it is within theteaching of this invention to mount the selector control panel 585 inthe vicinity of the wall mounted light controls.

[0141] Monitor input selector panel 595 allows a user to choose one ofthe four channels 581-584 to be the active channel having its video feeddisplayed on a first or “A” monitor 42 of the surgical theater system 10and to choose the same channel 581-584, or another of the four channels581-584, as the active channel to have its video feed displayed on asecond or “B” monitor 44 of the surgical theater system 10. In theillustrated embodiment, monitor input selector panel 595 includes an “A”monitor selector sub-panel 597 and a “B” monitor selector sub-panel 599.Each sub-panel 597 and 599 is provided with a selector button 604 and achannel selector LED array 602 including four LED's each of which isassociated with one of the four channels 581-584.

[0142] In the illustrated embodiment, pushing the selector switch 604causes the active channel for the monitor associated with the sub-panel597 and 599 to toggle through the available channels. The appropriateLED in the channel selector LED array 602 is illuminated to indicate theactive channel for the sub-panel 597 and 599. In the illustratedembodiment, channel 1 581 is the active channel for the “A” monitor 42as indicated by the illumination of the LED associated with channel 1 ofthe LED array 602 of sub-panel 597 and channel 3 583 is the activechannel for the “B” monitor 44 as indicated by the illumination of theLED associated with channel 3 of the LED array 602 of sub-panel 599.Thus, similar or different images can be selected for viewing on each ofthe monitors 42 and 44 of a two monitor surgical theater system 10.

[0143] In an embodiment of surgical theater system 10, a duplicateselector switch 606 is located in the sterile handle 84 of each monitor42 and 44, as shown, for example, in FIGS. 24, 16 and 17. This duplicateselector switch 606 allows a surgeon or some other operating roompersonnel to select which image is visible on the monitor 42 and 44 towhich the handle 84 is attached without moving away from the monitor 42and 44. Pushing the duplicate switch 606 toggles through each availablechannel 581-584 to alter the active channel for the associated monitor42 and 44 and induces the associated LED for the active channel of theLED array 602 to be illuminated on the associated sub-panel 597 and 599.

[0144] As shown for example in FIGS. 23 and 24, selector control panel585 also includes an output panel 610 allowing the images on any channel581-584 to be provided to a remote monitor, VCR, printer, computer, orother device if desired. Included in the output panel 610 are an “A”monitor output sub-panel 612 and an input 1 auxiliary output sub-panel614. Each sub-panel 612 and 614 includes a plurality of connectors,illustrated as a y-c connector 616, a composite connector 618, and anRGB connector 620.

[0145] The connectors 616, 618, 620 of the “A” monitor output sub-panel612 are coupled to the video signal selected for the “A” monitor 42allowing the same image to be displayed on a remote monitor as is beingdisplayed on the “A” monitor 42 of the surgical theater system 10. The“A” monitor 42 will usually be selected by the surgeon as the mainmonitor so that the “A” monitor output is used for another peripheral orremote monitor or support device. In the illustrated embodiment, the “A”monitor output sub-panel 612 includes three indicator lights 626, 628,630, such as LEDs, associated with connectors 616, 618, 620 respectivelyto indicate the type of signal which is being transmitted and thereforethe active connector. If a slave monitor is coupled to the “A” monitoroutput sub-panel 612, the slave is preferably coupled to all threeoutput connectors 616, 618, 620 to guarantee that an image will alwaysappear on the slave monitor.

[0146] Referring to FIG. 24, the connectors 616, 618, 620 of input 1auxiliary output sub-panel 614 are shown to be a direct feed from theprimary input 1 present on channel 1 581. Any device that is pluggedinto connectors 586, 588, 590 of channel 1 581 will feed a signaldirectly to the connectors 616, 618, 620 respectively of auxiliaryoutput sub-panel 614. The output of sub-panel 614 can be used as anemergency output since it is a direct signal from the input panel 608and doesn't travel through the arm system to the monitor. If anythingfails in the monitor 42 and 44 or arm system, a signal is stillavailable from the auxiliary output sub-panel 614.

[0147] As shown in FIG. 24, power supply 622 to the surgical theatersystem, including the first monitor 42 and second monitor 44, and theselector panel 585 is mounted in a ceiling box 624. Power supply 622 isa low voltage medical grade power supply producing twelve volts.Illustratively, power supply 622 is made by International Power Sources,Inc., Holliston, Mass., 01746 as model # PM200-13C. A switcher 632 isalso mounted in the ceiling box 624. Switcher 632 is electricallycoupled to first monitor 42, second monitor 44, duplicate switches 606on the handle 84 of each monitor 42 and 44, input panel 608, wallselector control panel 595, and “A” monitor output sub-panel 612. Powerto switcher 632 is supplied by power supply 622. Video signals from theactive input of each channel 581-584 are electrically coupled toswitcher 632 through video bus 634. As previously mentioned, the channel1 input is directly coupled to the auxiliary output sub-panel 614.Illustratively, inputs are available from four channels 581-584, each ofwhich may be coupled to as many as three input devices 592. It is withinthe scope of the disclosure as presently perceived to configure eachchannel to receive as few as one video input or more than three videoinputs.

[0148] In response to signals received from the wall selector controlpanel 595 and the toggle 606 on the handle 84 of each monitor 42 and 44,switcher 632 selects from the video signals received from inputs androutes video signals to the “A” monitor 42, “B” monitor 44, and outputsub-panel 612. Output sub-panel 612 receives the same video feed as “A”monitor 42. “B” monitor 44 may receive the same or a different videofeed as “A” monitor 42.

[0149] Portions of an alternative selector device 636 are shown in FIGS.25 and 26. Selector device 636 includes an alternative dedicated inputpanel 638 and an output panel 610. Output panel 610 of selector device636 is substantially identical to output panel 610 of selector device580 described above except for the connection of output sub-panel 614.Nevertheless, identical reference numerals will be used in describingoutput panel 610 of selector device 636 as were used in describingoutput panel 610 of selector device 580.

[0150] Input panel 638 includes three differently configured connectors(a y-c connector 586, a composite connector 588, and an RGB connector590), an “A” monitor selector button 640, a “B” monitor selector button642 and two sets of three indicator lights 596, 598, 600 associated withconnector 586, 588, 590. Actuation of “A” monitor selector button 640selects one of the three connectors 586, 588, 590 as the activeconnector providing the video feed to “A” monitor 42 and “A” monitoroutput sub-panel 612. Actuation of “A” monitor selector button 640 alsoinduces the appropriate one of the three “A” monitor indicator lights596, 598, 600 to indicate which connector 586, 588, 590 respectively isthe active connector for “A” monitor 42. Actuation of “B” monitorselector button 642 selects one of the three connectors 586, 588, 590 asthe active connector providing the video feed to “B” monitor 44.Actuation of “B” monitor selector button 642 also induces theappropriate one of the three “B” monitor indicator lights 596, 598, 600to indicate which connector 586, 588, 590 respectively is the activeconnector for “B” monitor 44.

[0151] Output panel 610 of selector device 636 includes “A” monitoroutput sub-panel 612 and Auxiliary output sub-panel 614. “A” monitoroutput sub-panel 612 is identical to “A” monitor output sub-panel 612 ofselection device 580 and receives the video feed being sent to “A”monitor 42. Auxiliary output sub-panel 614 of selector device 636 issimilar to channel I auxiliary output sub-panel 614 of selector device580 in that it is directly coupled to the input panel 638, however,auxiliary output sub-panel 614 may receive any video feed which is live.Auxiliary output panel sub-panel 614 includes an indicator light 644,such as an LED to indicate that the system is powered on.

[0152] Both selector device 580 and selector device 636 are intended foruse with a surgical theater system 10 including a first and secondmonitor 42 and 44. Those skilled in the art will recognize that selectordevice 636 can be mounted in similar locations as selector device 580and can be coupled to a surgical theater system 10 in a similar manneras is shown in FIG. 24. Selector device 636 has fewer channels thanselector device 580. Because selector device 636 includes only one ofeach type of connector 586, 588, 590, the number and type of videodevices 592 which may be coupled to a surgical theater system 10 is morelimited with selector device 636 than with selector device 580. In theillustrated configuration, without an external splitter, only threeremote video devices 592, each having a different type of connector maybe coupled to the monitors 42 and 44 of a surgical theater system 10when selector device 636 is used.

[0153] Cameras are used in operating rooms as a means of networking withthe rest of the world. The camera has now become the vehicle by whichsurgeons can consult with each other during live procedures. For certainsurgical procedures it is not uncommon for surgeons to consult with eachother from different parts of the world during a case (commonly referredto as ‘Telesurgery’). Thus although not specifically illustrated, manycameras used in surgical suites include or are coupled to microphonesand speakers permitting audio as well as video signals to be recordedand transmitted. In teaching hospitals, clinical educators requireinteractive filming capabilities that can be controlled remotely fromthe classroom. Such procedures are either recorded for critique at alater date or simply observed ‘real time’ for teaching. Surgeonsroutinely record procedures and edit the content for presentation at aconference. More surgical procedures are being recorded for futurereference should the outcome of the surgery be questioned.

[0154] As was explained above, camera 108, camera arm 790 and cameramount 647 may include mechanisms and drives facilitating remote controlof panning, zooming, tilting, white balancing, and iris adjustment. Tofacilitate remote operation of such a camera 108 and camera mount 647attached to a multi-purpose arm 648, camera arm 790 attached to amulti-purpose receptacle 745, or any other properly wired arm attachedto a surgical light apparatus, a camera wall control panel 820 as wellas a wireless remote control 822 is provided, as shown, for example, inFIGS. 27 and 28. It is also envisioned, although not illustrated, that awired remote control be provided to facilitate control of the camera 108from a remote conference room. It will be understood that such a wiredremote control will include a control panel having buttons similar tothose illustrated in FIG. 27. Camera 108 and its mounting mechanism maybe manually positioned enabling the doctor to point the camera at thesurgical sight. A pan/tilt mechanism 711 and 811 allows the camera to beremotely tilted up or down and panned left or right by after initial setup. To simplify the mounting mechanism and to take advantage of commonlyavailable camera pan and tilt drives, it is envisioned that the degreeof freedom of pan and tilt remotely controlled motion may be limitedsuch as by plus or minus forty-five degree of the manually adjusted homeposition.

[0155] Each control panel 820 and remote control 822 is provided with anon/off button 824 and 826, two pan buttons 828 and 830, two tilt buttons832 and 834, a home position button 836, a pause button 838, two focusbuttons 840 and 842, two zoom buttons 844 and 846, two iris buttons 848and 850, and either two white balance buttons 852 and 854 or a whitebalance set button 856. As previously mentioned the surgeon or other ORpersonnel may manually adjust camera mount 647 or camera arm 790 topoint camera 108 at an initial position, such as the surgical sight. Ifprior to manual adjustment, the mechanisms controlling the pan and tiltare adjusted to a central position half way between their limits oftravel, such position being referred to herein as the home position,then actuation of the home button 830 causes the camera to return topointing at the surgical sight (or any other initial position).

[0156] Each On/Off button 824 and 826 is coupled to a switch thatcontrols the supply of power to the camera 108. Each pan button 828 and830 is coupled to a motor control circuit for controlling the motorwhich actuates panning of the camera 108. When the pan left button 828is actuated, the pan motor is controlled to induce the camera mount torotate the field of view of the camera 108 to the left. When the panright button 830 is actuated, the pan motor is controlled to induce thecamera mount to rotate the field of view of the camera 108 to the right.Actuation of the tilt up button 832 controls the tilt motor to inducethe field of view of the camera 108 to rotate upwardly. Actuation of thetilt down button 834 controls the tilt motor to induce the field of viewof the camera 108 to rotate downwardly.

[0157] The two focus buttons 840 and 842 are coupled to internal motorsof the camera 108 that control the position of the lens in order toadjust the focus of the camera 108. Pushing the first focus button 840induces the camera motor to move the lens in a first direction to adjustthe focus and pushing the second focus button 842 induces the cameramotor to move the lens in the opposite direction to adjust the focus.

[0158] Similarly, the two zoom buttons 844 and 846 are coupled tointernal motors and mechanisms of the camera 108 which adjust therelative position of the compound lenses to increase or decrease themagnification of the compound lenses. Pushing the zoom in button 844induces the camera motor to move the position of the compound lenses ina first direction to increase the effective magnification of thecompound lenses and pushing the zoom out button 846 induces the cameramotor to move the position of the compound lenses in the oppositedirection to decrease the effective magnification of the compoundlenses.

[0159] The iris buttons 848 and 850 are coupled to internal motors andmechanisms of the camera 108 which adjust the aperture diameter of theiris of the camera 108. Pushing the aperture open button 848 induces theinternal motors to increase the aperture diameter of the camera 108while pushing the iris closed button 850 induces the internal motors todecrease the aperture diameter of the iris.

[0160] The white balance buttons 852 and 854 and white balance setbutton 856 are coupled to internal mechanisms of the camera 108 thatincrease and decrease the white balance of the video image produced bythe camera 108. Actuation of the white balance increase button 852increases the white balance of the video image while actuation of thewhite balance decrease button 854 decreases the white balance of thevideo image. Actuation of the white balance set button 856 inducesinternal controls to automatically set the white balance to a desiredsetting.

[0161] Each of the buttons with evenly numbered reference numeralsbetween 824-856 are referred to above as being coupled to a motor ormechanism of the camera 108 or camera mount. This coupling occursthrough hard wire connections in the case of camera wall control panel820 or a hard wired suite remote (not shown). In the case of a wirelessremote control 822, the remote includes a transmitter that transmitsappropriate signals to a receiver that is hardwired to the camera 108and camera mount. It is envisioned that transmission may be by RF, UV,IR, optical or other types of signals commonly used to remotely transmitsignals and data. Preferably such signals will be conducive to use in ahealth care environment to avoid interference with other healthcareequipment.

[0162] When a camera 108 is mounted by a camera mount 647 to amultipurpose arm 648, by a camera arm 790 to a multi-purpose receptacle745, or by a camera mounting arm assembly 90, integration of the camera108 with the selector controls 580, 636 may occur in several ways. Onemethod is to hard wire the wires carrying the video signal from thecamera 108 into the monitor control panel 585 and 636 primary input ofthe RGB signal (coupled to connector 590). When hard wired, a blank RGBplug labeled “Camera” is permanently fastened into the RGB inputconnector 590 to the monitor control panel 585 and 636 to indicate thatthis input is always the camera 108. A second alternative is to couplethe video output of the camera 108 to an output plate (not shown), mountthe camera output plate including a video connector adjacent to themonitor control panel 585 and 636 and provide a pigtail connector tocouple the video output of the camera 108 to the monitor control panel585 and 636. When it is envisioned that cameras and monitors may bemoved between surgical light assemblies located in different OR suites,it is preferable that the camera video output be integrated by the samemethod in all of the suites for system integrity.

[0163] Referring to FIG. 29 there is shown an alternative camera controlpanel 920. Camera control panel is similar to control panel 820 shown inFIG. 22 except panel 920 includes additional buttons not included inpanel 820 to facilitate freezing and image and printing the frozen imageand facilitating volume adjustment and muting of audio functions.Buttons of control panel 920 which function identically as buttons ofcontrol panels 820 and 822 will be identified with the same referencenumerals and will not be further described hereafter, it beingunderstood that the description above of those buttons with regard tocontrol panels 820 and 822 are likewise applicable to control panel 920.

[0164] In addition to the buttons described above with regard to remotecontrols 820 and 822, control panel 920 includes print button 858,volume increase button 860, volume decrease button 862, and mute button864. The output panels each include at least one RGB connector 620 tofacilitate attaching a printer or a computer including a printer to thesurgical theater system 10. Pressing pause button 838 causes the videoimage from the camera to be frozen. Subsequently pressing the printbutton causes a signal to be sent to the printer to cause the frozenimage to be printed. When the volume increase button 860 is actuated, avolume controller (not shown) to a speaker (not shown) is actuated toincrease the volume of the output of the speaker. When the volumedecrease button 860 is actuated, a volume controller (not shown) to aspeaker (not shown) is actuated to decrease the volume of the output ofthe speaker. When the mute button 864 is actuated, the output of thespeaker is muted.

[0165] Although the invention has been described in detail withreference to a certain preferred embodiment, variations andmodifications exist within the scope and spirit of the present inventionas described and defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A surgical theater apparatus for suspending froma ceiling structural member of a hospital, the surgical theaterapparatus comprising: a central hub mountable to the ceiling structuralmember to rotate about a rotation axis, the hub having a pivot axisspaced apart from the rotation axis, a first device selected from thegroup of a surgical light, a camera, and a monitor, a second deviceselected from the group of a surgical light, a camera, and a monitor, afirst device arm coupled at a first end to the first device and mountedat a second end to the hub for movement about the rotation axis andabout the pivot axis, a second device arm coupled at a first end to thesecond device and mounted at a second end to the hub for movement aboutthe rotation axis, and wherein the pivot axis and the rotation axis areparallel.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first device is amonitor.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second device is acamera.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hub includes a secondpivot axis spaced apart from and parallel to the rotation axis and thefirst pivot axis and further comprising a third device selected from thegroup of a surgical light, a camera, and a monitor and a third devicearm coupled at a first end to the third device and mounted at a secondend to the hub for movement about the rotation axis and about the secondpivot axis.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the third device is amonitor and the third device arm is a monitor arm.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 5, wherein the first device is a monitor and the first device armis a monitor arm.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second deviceis a camera and the second device arm is a camera arm.
 8. The apparatusof claim 4, wherein the first and second pivot axes and the rotationaxis are coplanar.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first devicearm includes a first segment and a second segment pivotally mounted tothe first segment about a third pivot axis which is perpendicular to thefirst pivot axis.
 10. The apparatus of claim 3, and further comprising asurgical light arm attached at a distal end to a surgical light andmounted at a proximate end to the hub for movement about the rotationaxis.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7, and further comprising: a slip ringassembly mounted to the hub and the shaft, a first cable extendingthrough the hub and the first monitor arm to carry power, a C₁ videosignal, and a Y₁ video signal from the slip ring to the first monitor, asecond cable extending through the hub and the second monitor arm tocarry power, a C₂ video signal, and a Y₂ video signal from the slip ringto the second monitor, a third cable carrying the power, the C₁, Y₁, C₂,and Y₂ video signals to the slip ring assembly.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the C₁, Y₁, C₂, and Y₂ video signals are carried byshielded wire having a shield coupled to a shield ground.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the slip ring assembly includes sevenslip rings for distributing a ground potential, a voltage above groundpotential, the C₁ video signal, the Y₁ video signal, the C₂ videosignal, the Y₂ video signal, and a shield ground potential.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the central hub includes a plurality ofhub portions each of which is independently movable about the rotationaxis, and the hub portion coupled to the first device arm carrying alaterally outwardly spaced pivot joint defining the pivot axis, said hubportion comprising a hub brake controlling the movement of the hubportion about the rotation axis, said pivot joint comprising a pivotbrake controlling the pivotal movement of the first device arm relativeto the hub portion.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, in which the hubbrake and pivot brake are selectively adjustable such that the firstdevice arm can pivot relative to the hub without pivoting the hubrelative to the rotation axis.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 in whichthe pivot joint includes stops limiting pivotal movement of the firstdevice arm relative to the hub, the hub brake being adjusted such thatthe hub portion will not move relative to the rotation axis until thefirst device arm moves against the limiting stops.
 17. A surgical lightapparatus for mounting to a support in a ceiling, the surgical lightapparatus comprising: a shaft mountable to the support, the shaft havinga longitudinal axis extending downwardly from the support, a surgicallight head, a first monitor, a second monitor, a camera, a light hubmounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis, the light head beingcoupled to the light hub by a light arm extending laterally away fromthe light hub, a camera hub mounted to rotate about the longitudinalaxis, the camera being coupled to the camera hub by a camera armextending laterally away from the camera hub, a monitor hub having firstand second pivot joints pivoting about first and second pivot axesrespectively, the monitor hub being mounted to rotate about thelongitudinal axis, the first monitor being coupled to the first pivotjoint by a first monitor arm, the second monitor being coupled to thesecond pivot joint by a second monitor arm, and wherein the first pivotaxis is spaced apart laterally from, and is substantially parallel to,the longitudinal axis.
 18. The apparatus of 17, wherein the second pivotaxis is spaced apart laterally from, and is substantially parallel to,the longitudinal axis.
 19. The apparatus of 18, wherein the first andsecond monitor arms pivot at least 180 degrees about the first andsecond pivot axes respectively.
 20. The apparatus of 17, and furthercomprising: a slip ring assembly mounted to the monitor hub and theshaft, a first cable extending through the monitor hub and the firstmonitor arm to carry power, a C₁ video signal, and a Y₁ video signalfrom the slip ring to the first monitor, a second cable extendingthrough the monitor hub and the second monitor arm to carry power, a C₂video signal, and a Y₂ video signal from the slip ring to the secondmonitor, a third cable carrying the power, the C₁, Y₁, C₂, and Y₂ videosignals to the slip ring assembly.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20,wherein the C₁, Y₁, C₂, and Y₂ video signals are carried by shieldedwire having a shield coupled to a shield ground.
 22. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the slip ring assembly includes seven slip rings fordistributing a ground potential, a voltage above ground potential, theC₁ video signal , the Y₁ video signal, the C₂ video signal, the Y₂ videosignal, and a shield ground potential.
 23. The apparatus of 17, andfurther comprising a second surgical light head and a second light hubmounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis, the second surgical lighthead being coupled to the second light hub by a second light armextending laterally away from the second light hub,
 24. The apparatus of23, wherein the second pivot axis is spaced apart laterally from, and issubstantially parallel to, the longitudinal axis.
 25. The apparatus of24 wherein the first and second monitor arms pivot at least 180 degreesabout the first and second pivot axes respectively.
 26. The apparatus of23, and further comprising: a slip ring assembly mounted to the monitorhub and the shaft, a first cable extending through the monitor hub andthe first monitor arm to carry power, a C₁ video signal, and a Y₁ videosignal from the slip ring to the first monitor, a second cable extendingthrough the monitor hub and the second monitor arm to carry power, a C₂video signal, and a Y₂ video signal from the slip ring to the secondmonitor, a third cable carrying the power, the C₁, Y₁, C₂, and Y₂ videosignals to the slip ring assembly.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26,wherein the C₁, Y₁, C₂, and Y₂ video signals are carried by shieldedwire having a shield coupled to a shield ground.
 28. The apparatus ofclaim 27, wherein the slip ring assembly includes seven slip rings fordistributing a ground potential, a voltage above ground potential, theC₁ video signal, the Y₁ video signal, the C₂ video signal, the Y₂ videosignal, and a shield ground potential.
 29. The apparatus of claim 17including a selectively adjustable hub brake controlling the movement ofthe monitor hub about the shaft, each pivot joint including aselectively adjustable pivot joint brake controlling movement of itsassociated first and second monitor arm on the monitor hub, the hubbrake and pivot joint brakes being adjustable such that the monitor armscan move about their respective pivot joints without moving the hubabout the shaft.
 30. A surgical light apparatus for mounting to asupport in a ceiling, the surgical light apparatus comprising: a shaftmountable to the support, the shaft including a longitudinal axisextending downwardly from the support, a surgical light head, a monitor,a monitor hub mounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis, a monitorarm assembly comprising: a bent arm coupled to the monitor hub at aproximal end, the bent arm extending laterally away and then downwardlyfrom the monitor hub to a distal end; an extension arm rotatably mountedat a first end to the distal end of the bent arm to rotate about a firstrotation axis, the extension arm having a second end; alaterally-extending arm having a first end and a second end, thelaterally-extending arm being mounted at the first end to the second endof the extension arm; and, a downwardly extending arm having an uppersection and a lower section, the upper section having a first end and asecond end and being mounted at the first end to the laterally-extendingarm, the lower section having an upper end and a lower end, the lowersection being rotatably mounted at the upper end to the second end ofthe upper section to rotate about a second rotation axis, the lowersection being mounted at the lower end to the monitor; and, a light hubmounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis, the light head beingcoupled to the light hub by a light arm extending laterally away fromthe light hub.
 31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the longitudinalaxis, first rotation axis and second rotation axis are generallyparallel.
 32. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein the laterally-extendingarm is pivotally mounted to the extension arm and the downwardlyextending arm to pivot about first and second generally parallel pivotaxes respectively.
 33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein thelongitudinal axis, first rotation axis and second rotation axis aregenerally parallel.
 34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the firstpivot axis is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. 35.The apparatus of claim 30, and further comprising a first, second, andthird slip ring assembly, and wherein the first slip ring assembly ismounted to the monitor hub and the shaft, the second slip ring assemblyis mounted to the distal end of the bent arm and the first end of theextension arm, and the third slip ring assembly is mounted to the secondend of the upper section and the upper end of the lower section of thedownwardly extending arm.
 36. The apparatus of claim 30 and furthercomprising a second monitor, wherein the monitor hub includes first andsecond pivot joints pivoting at least 90 degrees about a first andsecond pivot axis, the first monitor being coupled to the first pivotjoint by the first monitor arm assembly, the second monitor beingcoupled to the second pivot joint by a second monitor arm assembly, andwherein the first pivot axis is spaced apart laterally from, and issubstantially parallel to, the longitudinal axis.
 37. The apparatus ofclaim 36 and further comprising a camera and a camera hub mounted torotate about the longitudinal axis, the camera being coupled to thecamera hub by a camera arm extending laterally away from the camera hub.38. The apparatus of claim 30, and further comprising a camera and acamera hub mounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis, the camerabeing coupled to the camera hub by a camera arm extending laterally awayfrom the camera hub.
 39. The apparatus of claim 30, comprising a monitorhub brake selectively adjustable to control movement of the monitor hubabout the shaft.
 40. The apparatus of claim 39 comprising a pivot jointsupporting bent arm at its proximal end for movement about an axislaterally spaced apart from, and parallel to, the longitudinal axis, thepivot joint comprising a selectively adjustable brake and limit stops tocontrol movement of the bent arm relative to the monitor hub betweenlimits established by the stops, the hub brake being adjustable toprovide for movement of the bent arm between the stops without movementof the monitor hub and movement of the monitor hub when the monitor armreaches the stop limits.
 41. A surgical video apparatus for suspendingfrom a ceiling structural member of a hospital, the surgical videoapparatus comprising: a support mountable to the ceiling structuralmember, a shaft having an upper end and a longitudinal axis and beingcoupled at the upper end to the support to extend downwardly, a videomonitor, a camera, a monitor arm coupled at a first end to the monitorand coupled at a second end to the shaft for movement about a pivotaxis, a camera arm coupled at a first end to the camera and coupled at asecond end to the shaft for movement about a rotation axis, and whereinthe pivot axis is spaced apart laterally from the rotation axis, saidpivot axis and rotation axis being generally parallel to saidlongitudinal axis.
 42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the rotationaxis is coaxial with the longitudinal axis.
 43. The apparatus of claim42, wherein the shaft includes an outer surface disposed to lie betweenthe pivot axis and the rotation axis.
 44. The apparatus of claim 41,further comprising a second monitor and a second monitor arm coupled ata first end to the second monitor and coupled at a second end to theshaft for movement about a second pivot axis generally parallel to thelongitudinal axis.
 45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the shaftincludes an outside surface, the rotation axis is coaxial with thelongitudinal axis, and the outside surface is disposed to lie betweenthe longitudinal axis and one of the first and second pivot axes. 46.The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the outer surface is disposed betweenthe longitudinal axis and both of the first and second pivot axes. 47.The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the first and second pivot axesextend through a hub to which the second ends of the first and secondmonitor arms are pivotally mounted and the hub is mounted to the shaftfor rotation about the longitudinal axis.
 48. The apparatus of claim 47,wherein the first and second pivot axes and the rotation axis arecoplanar.
 49. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the monitor armincludes a first segment and a second segment pivotally mounted to thefirst segment about a third pivot axis which is perpendicular to thefirst pivot axis.
 50. The apparatus of claim 43, and further comprisinga surgical light attached to a distal end of a light arm and mounted ata proximal end to rotate about the longitudinal axis.
 51. The apparatusof 41, comprising a selectively adjustable brake controlling movement ofthe monitor arm about the pivot axis.
 52. The apparatus of claim 44,comprising a monitor hub mounted on the shaft for movement about thelongitudinal axis, the monitor hub carrying generally oppositelydisposed pivot joints defining the first and second pivot axes, each ofthe monitor hub and the pivot joints including selectively adjustablebrakes controlling the torque required for movement about its axis, eachpivot joint including stops limiting movement of its associated monitorarm about its pivot axis, whereby the monitor arms can be moved abouttheir pivot axes within their respective stop limits without moving themonitor hub about the shaft.
 53. A surgical light comprising: a shaftmountable to a ceiling structure to extend downwardly and define alongitudinal axis, a surgical light, a hub and light arm for couplingthe light to the shaft for movement about the longitudinal axis, amonitor, and a monitor arm assembly for coupling the monitor formovement about the longitudinal axis, the arm assembly comprising: afirst arm movable about the shaft and having, at its distal end, aportion extending downwardly to define a second axis; a second armmovable about the second axis, the second arm having a proximal endcoupled to the first arm downwardly extending portion and a distal end,the monitor being coupled to the second arm distal end.
 54. Theapparatus of claim 53 in which the first arm downwardly extendingportion comprises upper and lower portions with the lower portion beingrotatable relative to the upper portion about the second axis.
 55. Theinvention of claim 54 in which the second arm is coupled to the lowerportion of the first arm for pivotal movement about a third axisperpendicular to the second axis.
 56. The invention of claim 55 in whichthe monitor is coupled to the second arm distal end for pivotal movementabout a fourth axis perpendicular to the second axis.
 57. The inventionof claim 56 in which the monitor is further coupled to the second armfor movement about a fifth axis generally parallel to the second axis.58. The invention of claim 57 in which the monitor is further coupled tothe second arm for movement about a sixth axis generally perpendicularto the fifth axis.
 59. The invention of claim 56 in which the second armincludes a counter balance mechanism for controlling the pivotalmovement to support the monitor.
 60. The invention of claim 53comprising a hub movable about the shaft and providing a laterallyspaced pivot joint for supporting the first arm for movement about anaxis parallel to the longitudinal axis.
 61. The invention of claim 53wherein a hub is provided on the shaft to support a second monitor andsecond monitor arm assembly, the hub having generally opposed laterallyspaced pivot joints for supporting the monitor arm assembliesrespectively for movement about pivot axes spaced laterally outwardlyfrom and parallel to the longitudinal axis.
 62. The invention of claim61, comprising a selectively adjustable hub brake for controlling themovement of the hub about the shaft and a selectively adjustable pivotjoint brake for each pivot joint to control the torque required to moveits associated monitor arm assembly about its axis, each pivot jointincluding stops limiting the movement of its associated monitor armassembly, whereby the hub brake is adjustable such that the hub will notmove until an arm assembly is moved against its pivot joint stop andmovement of the arm assembly is continued.
 63. A surgical apparatuscomprising: a hub assembly configured to be attached to a ceiling, anarm having a proximate end coupled for pivotal movement about the hubassembly and a distal end including a mechanical connector and anelectrical connector, the electrical connector being configured tocouple to an electrical connector of a camera and a monitor, a monitormounted to a mechanical connector configured to attach to and detachfrom the mechanical connector of the arm, the monitor being coupled toan electrical connector configured to attach to and detach from theelectrical connector of the arm, and a camera mounted to a mechanicalconnector configured to attach to and detach from the mechanicalconnector of the arm, the monitor being coupled to an electricalconnector configured to attach to and detach from the electricalconnector of the arm.
 64. The surgical apparatus of claim 63 and furthercomprising a second arm having a proximate end coupled for pivotalmovement about the hub assembly and a distal end including a mechanicalconnector and an electrical connector, the electrical connector beingconfigured to couple to an electrical connector of a camera and amonitor.
 65. The surgical apparatus of claim 64 and further comprising asecond monitor mounted to a mechanical connector configured to attach toand detach from the mechanical connector of either arm, the monitorbeing coupled to an electrical connector configured to attach to anddetach from the electrical connector of the arm.
 66. The surgicalapparatus of claim 63 further comprising a second hub assemblyconfigured to be attached to a ceiling, and a second arm having aproximate end coupled for pivotal movement about the second hub assemblyand a distal end including a mechanical connector and an electricalconnector, the electrical connector being configured to couple to anelectrical connector of a camera and a monitor.
 67. A surgical theaterapparatus for use in a surgical suite having a ceiling, the surgicaltheater apparatus comprising a hub assembly adapted to be coupled to theceiling, the hub assembly including a plurality of hub segments at leastone of which is pivotable about a main axis, a video device, an armassembly coupled to a first hub segment of the plurality of hub segmentsfor pivoting movement about a pivot axis that is spaced apart from andparallel with the main axis, the video device being coupled to the armassembly.
 68. The surgical theater apparatus of claim 67, wherein thevideo device is a video monitor.
 69. The surgical theater apparatus ofclaim 67, wherein the video device is a camera.
 70. The surgical theaterapparatus of claim 67, further comprising a second arm assembly coupledto a second hub segment of the plurality of hub segments and a surgicallight coupled to the second arm assembly.
 71. The surgical theaterapparatus of claim 67, wherein the arm assembly includes an upper arm, acounterbalanced arm assembly coupled to the upper arm, and a lower armassembly coupled to the counterbalanced arm assembly, the upper arm iscoupled to the first hub segment for pivoting movement about the pivotaxis, and the video device is coupled to the lower arm assembly.
 72. Thesurgical theater apparatus of claim 71, wherein the upper arm isL-shaped having a first section extending perpendicular to the pivotaxis and a second section extending parallel with the pivot axis. 73.The surgical theater apparatus of claim 71, wherein the upper arm isL-shaped and the lower arm assembly includes a lower arm that isL-shaped.
 74. The surgical theater apparatus of claim 67, wherein thefirst hub segment includes a main hub section having a cylindrical outerwall and a first pivot joint portion appended to the main hub sectionand extending therefrom.
 75. The surgical theater apparatus of claim 74,wherein the arm assembly includes an arm having a second pivot jointportion that is coupled to the first pivot joint portion.
 76. Thesurgical theater apparatus of claim 75, wherein the second pivot jointportion is positioned to lie atop the first pivot joint portion.
 77. Thesurgical theater apparatus of claim 75, further comprising a thrustbearing positioned to lie between the first pivot joint portion and thesecond pivot joint portion.
 78. The surgical theater apparatus of claim75, further comprising a pivot pin coupling the first pivot jointportion and the second pivot joint portion together.
 79. The surgicaltheater apparatus of claim 78, further comprising a brake assemblyincluding a brake element that engages the pivot pin and an adjusterthat is movable to adjust the amount of pressure with which the brakeelement engages the pivot pin to adjust a torque required to pivot thesecond pivot joint portion relative to the first pivot joint portion.80. The surgical theater apparatus of claim 75, wherein one of the firstand second pivot joint portions is formed to include a slot and theother of the first and second pivot joint portions is formed to includea stop that is received by the slot, the stop engages ends of the slotto limit the amount by which the second pivot joint portion is able topivot relative to the first pivot joint portion.
 81. The surgical lightapparatus of claim 74, wherein the first pivot joint portion isintegrally formed with the main hub.
 82. The surgical light apparatus ofclaim 67, wherein the plurality of hub segments are stacked vertically.83. A surgical theater apparatus for use in a surgical suite, thesurgical theater apparatus comprising a hub assembly including aplurality of hub segments at least one of which is pivotable about amain axis, first and second video devices, first and second armassemblies coupled to a first hub segment of the plurality of hubsegments for pivoting movement about respective pivot axes that arespaced apart from and parallel with the main axis, the first videodevice being coupled to the first arm assembly, and the second videodevice being coupled to the second arm assembly.
 84. The surgicaltheater apparatus of claim 83 wherein the first video device is amonitor and the second video device is a camera.
 85. The surgicaltheater apparatus of claim 83, wherein the first and second videodevices are monitors.
 86. The surgical theater apparatus of claim 83,further comprising a third arm assembly coupled to a second hub segmentof the plurality of hub segments and a surgical light coupled to thethird arm assembly.
 87. The surgical theater apparatus of claim 83,wherein the plurality of hub segments are stacked vertically.
 88. Asurgical theater apparatus comprising an arm assembly including a firstarm, a first mechanical connector coupled to the first arm, and a firstelectrical connector adjacent the first mechanical connector, a monitorassembly adapted to be mechanically coupled to the first mechanicalconnector and to be electrically coupled to the first electricalconnector, and a camera assembly adapted to be mechanically coupled tothe first mechanical connector and to be electrically coupled to thefirst electrical connector so that each of the monitor assembly and thecamera assembly are selectively and individually coupleable to anddecoupleable from the arm assembly.
 89. The surgical theater apparatusof claim 88, wherein the monitor assembly and the camera assembly eachweigh substantially the same amount and the first arm includescomponents that counterbalance the weight of whichever of the monitorassembly and the camera assembly is coupled to the arm assembly.
 90. Thesurgical theater apparatus of claim 88, wherein the monitor assemblyincludes a monitor that is pivotable about multiple pivot axes relativeto the arm assembly when the monitor assembly is coupled to the armassembly.
 91. The surgical theater apparatus of claim 88, wherein thecamera assembly includes a camera that is pivotable about multiple pivotaxes relative to the arm assembly when the camera assembly is coupled tothe arm assembly.